Giants free agency: Is Jonah Williams an option at right tackle?

It’s not his preferred position, and his price tag might be prohibitive

We talked on Wednesday about the possibility of the New York Giants signing Las Vegas Raiders right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor if they want to move Evan Neal to guard.

Perhaps the biggest issue with that could be the persistent chatter connecting Eluemunor to the Cincinnati Bengals as a replacement for pending free agent right tackle Jonah Williams.

If you are connecting the dots of where this is going, the question is could Williams be a potential target for the Giants if they are pushing Neal inside after two abysmal seasons?

On its face, that makes sense.

Williams, who turns 27 in November, was the 11th overall pick by the Bengals in the 2019 NFL Draft. He has started all 59 games and five postseason games he has been active for. He’s been a good, durable player since missing his rookie season with a torn labrum.

There are really two problems.

First, Williams seemingly does not want to be a right tackle. Williams played left tackle for his first three seasons with Cincinnati. He requested a trade last season when the Bengals signed Orlando Brown Jr. to play left tackle and moved him to the right side. The expectation is that Williams will be hunting for a left tackle in free agency. Considering the dearth of offensive line talent around the league, odds are he will find one.

Even if he doesn’t, there is the matter of cost.

Pro Football Focus ranks Williams as its No. 54 overall free agent and projects a contract of $64 million over four years with $40 million guaranteed. That’s an average of $16 million per season, which would put him among the league’s top 10 highest-paid right tackles. It’s a price the Giants seem unlikely to be able to afford.

PFF writes:

Williams requested a trade this past offseason after the Bengals signed free agent tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to take over on the left side, but he eventually rescinded the request and got back to work mastering his craft at right tackle, where he hadn’t started since his undergraduate days in college at Alabama. The former first-round pick has always been an above-average pass protector and has stayed healthy throughout 2023. While Williams may not have the ceiling perceived coming out of college, a high-floor pass blocker with a strong pedigree should do fairly well in unrestricted free agency with the league-wide scarcity of solid tackle play.

Solid, yes. Williams, though, had the worst season of his career in 2023 as he moved back to the right side. His overall PFF grade (58.5), pass blocking grade (57.9) were career worsts and his 54.0 run blocking grade was his second-lowest.

Among 50 tackles who had at least 455 pass blocking snaps, his 96.5 efficiency score was 28th and the 41 pressures he allowed were tied for 20th-most.

So, basically, Williams looks like an average right tackle. That, of course, is better than what Neal has been the last two seasons. It may not, though, be worth the paycheck he could command on the open market.