Report: Raiders Expected to Have Interest in DE Leonard Williams

The Raiders are going to be linked to a lot of free agents over the next two months, but one name that will likely be brought up a lot is defensive end Leonard Williams, whose deal with the Giants is set to expire at the end of the season.

Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter appeared on Las Vegas AM radio’s Silver and Black Today show on Wednesday and said there is belief that the Raiders intend to pursue Williams in free agency. Having used the franchise tag to keep Williams after the 2019 season, the Giants will have a difficult time keeping him if he decides to leave.

Williams is coming off what has been by far the best year of his career. His 11.5 sacks in 2020 by far exceeded his previous career best in 2016 (7.0). Williams has shed the narrative that he can’t be a great pass rusher, but now the question will be whether or not he will produce 10+ sacks per year when he isn’t in a contract year.

Coming out of college, Williams talked about wanting to play for the Raiders and it’s possible that he would still want to return to the southwest – not far from where he played college football at the University of Southern California. Certainly, the Nevada tax rates wouldn’t hurt the Raiders chances, either. Players that sign huge deals in Nevada stand to save millions in taxes compared to other regions of the country like, say, California.

There will be more conversation about this in the coming weeks, but look for the Raiders really try to boost their defensive line in the offseason. It will probably be Jon Gruden’s top priority in the days ahead. Maybe Williams will be one of their top free agent targets, but also don’t rule out trades as a means to bolster the pass rush under new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

twitter: @raidersbeat

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14 thoughts on “Report: Raiders Expected to Have Interest in DE Leonard Williams

  1. He would be a great addition.. although I personally think that the Raiders need to concentrate on bolstering the Line Backers, Corners, Safety positions.

  2. To be honest, I’ve always believed the game starts up front on D and O . To get an inside push would be a great start , cause Malik Collins was horrible. Gruden was never a great judge of talent verses coaching talent especially defensive players. Get Leonard, a dogg at safety both FA. Draft a linebacker. Let Gus and Mayock do the drafting. Tired of waiting, Go raiders !!

    1. Yeah man, Gruden needs to fall back in the draft room and when it comes to free agent signings. Don’t mind his input and opinions, but Mark Davis is a wimp for giving one man total control. Very few people did well with that kind of say, and the only one I can think of is a Belichick

  3. Wouldnt surprise me n would further prove how shitty Gruden is after dealing Mack away like the retard he is.

    Its funny how many people have supported or made comments suggesting Raiders won Mack trade while since then Raiders have done nothing and severely lacked on DLine n Bears have continued to make playoffs.

    Gruden is nowhere near the intellect that people praised him as. He is at best (thats stretching it) a mediocre coach who like the players he has signed to over-inflated contracts have failed to live up to contracts underperforming

  4. Get Williams and then draft DT Barrmore from Alabama in 1st round and inside pass rush is solved. Get S Harris from Minnesota to balance and give direction to secondary. Lastly draft best athlete available (DE or LB) in 2nd round and defense will be top 16, which gets you to 11-5/10-6 and playoff birth. You can then use 3rd round on top 100 G and 4th round on top 120 RB (Trey Sermon) to backup Jacobs bc you cannot win in the NFL without 2 quality RB’s. It’s a sound plan not execute it Gruden/Mayock.

  5. If the Raiders due get Leonard Williams in free agency that would be a huge win for us. Loved him coming out of SC! Draft a safety with speed. Besides we have McKinley, Irving and the kid from the Falcons on our roster. We have talent here.

  6. Sounds like a lot of head coaches…. Giants fan here, so i GET IT……. Always enjoyed chuckys interview’s, but means nothing transforming to a product on the field…

  7. Raiders did win. Only someone who wasn’t watching that fiasco unfold wouldn’t understand. Fact. Mack didn’t want to be there. Fact. Mack wouldn’t come talk or discuss anything. Fact. We got great young players to build on. Only people that think that’s bad is slow fans that deal with what they want instead of what actually happened.. **** mack. RN4L

  8. Williams would be a great addition, and as far as the Mack trade , no I didn’t like it either because I was a big Mac fan , but I feel we did make out we got Jacobs and some good draft picks out of it. Yeah Chicago made the playoffs , but didn’t do squat and their record was no better than ours. And even with Big Mack he was all we had basically we were still at the bottom on D.
    Gruden has done a lot for the offense so now it’s time to get the Defense together . We’ll see !!

  9. Move on from Carr save $19.6M. He’s had 7 years and hasn’t delivered 1 Division Title and has absolutely ZERO pocket presence. Rich Gannon made le$$ and Won us a Division in 2yrs. Start the Flyin’ Hawaiian let him get his uniform dirty for $17M, use draft to build defense and possibly find a future QB. Not all Great QBs have come from 1st round. Only 2 Home Wins at New Stadium all Season is Unacceptable. We WaNT WINS with the Talent you got us for trading Mack, And Stop using Ruggs as a decoy and FEED him the Ball next season. Gruden is the reason Ruggs had low rookie year & the Reason we have a DeadZone offense because he Refused to get us a Bruising 3rd Down RB. You think Madden would settle for a Field Goal with the game on the line & Van Eeghen in his Backfield? We WaNT WINS for $100M!!!

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