Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams is heading into his fourth NFL season and he’ll be up for an extension next offseason. He’s probably pretty dang happy about what the future entails after seeing D.J. Humphries’ extension.
With the 11th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals started their quest toward rebuilding their offensive line by selecting Jonah Williams out of Alabama. With Alabama’s reputation for building the best possible o-lines at the collegiate level, Bengals fans felt as though they were getting a glass eater for their trenches.
Unfortunately, Williams missed his entire rookie season due to a shoulder injury. The following year, he missed six games due to a leg injury.
Before last season got underway, a lot of fans were hoping to simply see Williams remain healthy for an entire regular season, and fortunately, that’s exactly what they got. Williams appeared in all 21 games and while there’s room for improvement in his game, the fact that he remained healthy means that he’ll be in line for an extension when the 2022 season wraps up.
Cincinnati picked up Williams’ fifth-year option earlier this offseason (something they might not have done had he failed to stay healthy this past year) and that means he’s under contract in the Queen City through the end of the 2023 season.
If Williams plays decent again this year, the Bengals need to lock him up to an extension. Good left tackles don’t grow on trees and while Williams isn’t the best of the best, he’s solid. He finished last season with a PFF grade of 77.1 but he did surrender eight sacks. He graded out with a 67.5 pass-block grade and 75.6 run-block grade.
Bengals LT Jonah Williams is likely very happy with how D.J. Humphries’ new contract looks.
The Cardinals might have set the mark for what the Bengals should be expected to pay Williams if they do opt to extend him. Arizona inked their left tackle, D.J. Humphries, to a three-year extension worth $66.8 million and as Field Yates noted on Twitter, he will make $21 million this year.
As part of his extension through 2025, Cardinals OT D.J. Humphries received a $17M bonus and makes ~$21M this year.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 4, 2022
His 2022 cap hit drops to $12,643,529, creating nearly $6.7M in cap space for Arizona this season.
Humphries and Williams are similar players in that they both play left tackle and both have battled injuries in their careers. Both are former first-round picks and missed their rookie seasons due to injuries but obviously, things have gone well for Humphries recently, as he’s remained healthy the past three years and got paid as a result.
Humphries turns 29 at the end of the regular season while Williams is only going to be 25, meaning he’ll be set to make even more money when his time to get extended comes. The Bengals do have to worry about paying Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Logan Wilson in the next two years though, and that’s going to play a factor.
Even if the Bengals don’t end up paying Williams, though, another team gladly will. Left tackles are very valuable in the NFL and while Williams’ injuries in the first two years of his career are still a reason to be concerned, he showed this past year that when he can stay healthy, he’s a great option to have on the left side of the line.
What kind of contract do you think Jonah Williams ends up signing in the coming years?