NY Jets might be shopping Quinnen Williams, per conflicting reports

The NY Jets might be shopping defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, per conflicting reports.

The NY Jets continue to insist that they won’t be undergoing a fire sale this trade season, but it appears as though they’re at least entertaining trade offers about one of their brightest young pieces in Quinnen Williams.

Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News reported on Tuesday that the Jets were “shopping” Williams ahead of the November 3rd trade deadline. This news, of course, caught many by surprise given how well the former No. 3 overall pick has been playing this season.

Thankfully, multiple reports have since come to Williams’ defense stating that the Jets are absolutely not shopping Williams. ESPN’s Rich Cimini, The Athletic’s Connor Hughes, and Brian Costello of the NY Post have all come out insisting that Williams is not being shopped.

It appears that Mehta’s report may have been exaggerated a little — not the first time that’s happened.

But just because they aren’t shopping him, that doesn’t mean they aren’t listening. As Hughes reported, if the Jets receive some type of major haul for Williams, they might still move him.

“Anything is possible,” Hughes reported. Or to quote linebacker Avery Williamson from earlier in the month, “no one is safe.”

The NY Jets have seen a resurgent Quinnen Williams in 2020.

After a somewhat underwhelming rookie season, Williams has emerged as one of the defense’s top performers in 2020. While he has his down games, we’ve seen much more good from Williams as of late.

The former Alabama superstar ranks among the best run-defenders in the NFL and his pass-rush abilities have been nothing to scoff at either. Williams has already topped his sack total from a year ago and at just 22-years-old it would be foolish to shop him around.

Only five interior defensive linemen have recorded 10 or more run stops with a run-stop rate north of 8.0 percent and 10 or more pressures with a pass-rush rate of 8.0 percent or higher.

Calais Campbell, DeForest Buckner, Jonathan Allen, and Michael Brockers are four of them — some of the best defensive linemen in the NFL. Quinnen Williams is the fifth.

Williams has been nothing short of fantastic this season and trading him for a package including anything less than a first-round pick and then some would be foolish.

Hopefully, the Jets are smart enough to realize that. And thankfully, it doesn’t appear as though he’s actually being shopped.