Seahawks’ Leonard Williams confirms he had veto power on trade to Seattle

RENTON — On his first full day as a Seattle Seahawk last Wednesday, defensive lineman Leonard Williams praised the New York Giants for keeping him in the loop on potential trade possibilities and described his eventual move as something of a collaborative process.

Just how collaborative, though, has become clearer over the past week, with both Williams and his agent, Brandon Parker, saying Williams was essentially given veto power and could have stayed in New York if he wanted.

Parker made his comments in a story published Wednesday in The New York Post, noting that it was unusual that the Giants would have allowed Williams to nix the deal since he doesn’t have a no-trade clause.

“I was so blown away, in a good way, how the Giants handled this situation,” Parker said, adding that “it was a hard decision for Leonard.”

During an interview with The Seattle Times on Thursday, Williams reiterated Parker’s comments, saying Giants general manager Joe Schoen told him they had two offers on the table — from the Seahawks and Buffalo — and that he could pick which team he wanted to be traded to or stay in New York.

“The GM talked to me and said they weren’t trying to shop me and stuff like that,” Williams said. “He said, ‘You’re a great guy to have on this team, a [team] captain’ and all that kind of stuff. He said, ‘You’re the type of guy that we feel like if we trade, we’re going to lose the locker room.’

“But he said, ‘Seattle and Buffalo are both trying to make a push for you.’ He was like, ‘We don’t want to trade you, so let me know by 4 if you want to go to one of those teams or if you want to stay here.'”

While the Giants told Williams they weren’t shopping him, they were listening to offers since Williams can become a free agent at the end of the 2023 season, and New York has essentially fallen out of the postseason hunt. The Giants lost the day before the trade was made to fall to 2-6.

The New York Post reported that if Williams did want to be traded, the Giants’ preference was that he pick the Seahawks since they had offered more — a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-rounder.

According to The Post, the trade offer from Seattle was “better compensation than [the Giants] anticipated and it was a move the team wanted to make. But only if Williams signed off on it.”

Given a few hours to think it over, Williams said he mulled his options before signing off on being dealt to Seattle.

“Both teams would have been good to go to,” Williams said. “But I felt like I knew people here. I felt like it would have been more of a welcome here.”

Williams had previously played with a few current Seahawks: safety Julian Love (Giants), safety Jamal Adams and quarterback Geno Smith (Jets), as well as Uchenna Nwosu (USC). He also had some familiarity with coach Pete Carroll, who coached USC from 2001-09 while Williams played there from 2012-14.

The trade was the second of Williams’ career — he was also dealt at midseason in 2019 from the Jets, who drafted him sixth overall in 2015, to the Giants.

“It was a tough decision,” Williams said of being given veto power. “But it was cool to be in that position. It was a lot different than [what] I went through coming from the Jets to the Giants. It was kind of like I woke up one day, and they were like, ‘You are gone,’ where this time it felt like it was a choice. So it felt like a little bit smoother of a transition.”

Not that it hasn’t had some complications. 

As Williams noted, his trade from the Jets to the Giants meant he didn’t have to move.

This time, he had to move cross-country at a moment’s notice.

For now, he is living in a hotel and is dealing with things such as figuring out how to get his car shipped to Seattle from New York, though he said his longtime girlfriend Hailey Lott — the daughter of NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott — is handling most of the logistical work.

And the Seahawks put him right to work last week. Williams played 41 of 76 possible snaps (54%) in Sunday’s 37-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, not too far off the 63% for Jarran Reed and more than Dre’Mont Jones, the other starters on Seattle’s three-man base defensive line.

“I expected to play right away, but I think I played more than I thought, to be honest — but not in a bad way,” he said. “I was excited that they trusted me out there.”

Williams said he made just one mental error despite having only practicing three times with the Seahawks. He was credited with two tackles.

“I thought Leonard did a nice job with all the stuff he had to pick up in such short notice and all that,” coach Pete Carroll said this week.

Williams said he expects to be even better Sunday when the Seahawks host the Washington Commanders. He said he feels that much more comfortable with the playbook and his surroundings.

“Going into this week, we’re keeping it even more simple,” he said. “And that’s going to allow me to play fast.”