Williams gets longer-term deal

The Giants have applied the franchise tag to DE Leonard Williams, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It's an unsurprising move after Williams posted 11.5 sacks in his 1st full year with the team. That beat his previous season high by 4.5 and ranked him 7th in the league. Williams turns 27 in June and looks like a good candidate for a long-term deal with the Giants.

The Jets on Monday traded DE Leonard Williams to the Giants for a 2020 third-round pick plus a 2021 fifth-rounder that becomes a 4th-rounder if the Giants extend Williams, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Williams has traditionally been a better real-life player than fantasy producer. We'll see if moving to the Giants' defense can improve his sack numbers at all. The Giants' edge OLBs have delivered on the sack front so far this season, which could help. Back with the Jets, Folorunso Fatukasi and Kyle Phillips look like the prime candidates for playing-time boosts.

Jets DE Leonard Williams hurt his back in Sunday's loss to the Chargers and did not return. We'll see if he's well enough to play against the Patriots in the finale, but the situation at least adds risk to a guy who has mostly disappointed IDP owners all year. Teammate Muhammad Wilkerson, of course, has been a healthy scratch the past 2 weeks because of his crappy attitude.

Jets DE Leonard Williams left Saturday night's game against the Giants with a wrist injury. It wasn't clear when the injury occurred, and the team ruled him questionable to return. That could indicate the issue being minor. We'll await further updates, though. Williams carries top-15 potential among fantasy D-linemen.

ESPN's Rich Cimini wrote Tuesday that Jets DE Leonard Williams "might be the most impressive player so far in the New York Jets training camp." That accompanied remarks from teammate CB Buster Skrine, saying Williams had been "manhandling" blockers in practice and that he can be a "Pro Bowl guy." Williams tallied just 3 sacks as a rookie last year, but his 21 QB hits tied for 13th in the league. We already had Williams in sleeper range in the DL rankings, expecting him to convert a few more of those hits to sacks. But we've bumped him up further on news that the 2nd-year man is matching the intensity of his fellow star linemen. He appears ready to deliver on the promise that put him in the conversation for the top overall spot in last year's NFL Draft.