The Jets are adding a third first-round pick in barely an hour. Rumblings of the team being more open to trading Quinnen Williams have indeed preceded a deal, as the Cowboys will acquire the standout defensive tackle.
A first-rounder “and more” is headed to the Jets in exchange for Williams, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This deal comes shortly after the Jets sent Sauce Gardner to the Colts for two first-round picks. Here is how the now-official trade breaks down, via The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Cowboys receive:
- Williams
Jets receive:
- 2026 second-round pick
- Higher of Cowboys’ two 2027 first-round picks
- DT Mazi Smith
The Cowboys, of course, had some ammo to play with after acquiring two first-rounders for Micah Parsons this summer. The Cowboys and Jets had discussed Williams — as Dallas shopped for D-tackles — as part of a Parsons trade. After the team ended up making the Parsons trade with Green Bay, Dallas is loaded at defensive tackle now. They obtained Kenny Clark in that trade and having re-signed Osa Odighizuwa just before free agency. SNY’s Connor Hughes had indicated the Jets were believed to be softening their stance on keeping Williams, noting the price also may have dropped. The team still pried first- and second-rounders from Dallas, doing so after it seemed weeks ago Williams was off the table.
[RELATED: Williams Issued Multiple Trade Requests]
For a team sitting 3-5-1 — after a two-score loss to the Cardinals — it is borderline astounding to see the Cowboys give up future first- and second-round picks here. But Jerry Jones hinted at the Parsons trade giving the Cowboys options to trade picks for players. Weeks later, that has come to fruition.
Jones hinted at a trade being agreed to Monday, but the Cowboys acquired Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson on Tuesday morning. This Williams addition is a much bigger splash. The Cowboys’ defense has crumbled in Matt Eberflus‘ first year in charge, with Parsons’ exit being felt immediately. The Cowboys have been unable to stop opponents from passing or running, ranking 31st in points and yards allowed. The Cardinals continued that trend Monday night, and Jones is responding — as a way to help a high-powered offense stay in the playoff race.
Dallas’ defense has struggled despite Jones remarking the Parsons trade would help the team improve against the run. Williams will certainly help there, but this is now a third high-priced D-tackle contract hitting Dallas’ payroll. The team re-signed Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80MM deal in March. The Cowboys then obtained Clark’s three-year, $64MM extension from the Packers. Williams is tied to a four-year, $96MM accord that runs through 2027.
The Jets extended Williams in summer 2023, a transformative offseason on the D-tackle market, and had seen him earn three straight Pro Bowl nods. In the year prior to the extension, Williams became a first-team All-Pro. The former No. 3 overall pick — selected during Mike Maccagnan‘s fifth and final draft as Jets GM — tallied 12 sacks in 2022, helping Robert Saleh‘s defense rocket from last place in 2021 to fourth in ’22. Williams combined for 11.5 sacks from 2023-24. Thus far this season, he has one to go with seven tackles for loss and three QB hits. Williams has 40 career sacks, recording at least 5.5 each year from 2020-24, to go with 59 TFLs.
Circling back to the Cowboys’ porous run defense, Jones is adding the player Pro Football Focus ranks first among all D-tackles in run stoppage. ESPN’s run stop win rate metric ranks Williams second, while slotting him 17th in pass rush win rate among DTs. Dallas now has the top two players in run stop win rate at DT, with Solomon Thomas ranking first. Though, Thomas’ placement has not moved the needle for a woeful Cowboys defense.
While this trade has proven costly, the Cowboys are landing an accomplished player who will not turn 28 until December. Williams should have a number of prime years left, and they are now slated to come in Dallas.
Smith did not work out in Dallas, finishing his tenure as a healthy scratch Monday night. Like Adonai Mitchell in the Gardner deal, Smith is more of a throw-in for a Jets regime intent on collecting draft capital to bring in its own pillars — after ditching Joe Douglas‘ on defense. Weight issues plagued Smith, who has become the rare modern Cowboys first-rounder to struggle.
The 2023 draftee is signed through the 2026 season. Smith is just 24, and he made 17 starts last season. PFF ranked Williams as the NFL’s second-worst D-tackle regular in 2024. He will not compare to Williams, but the Cowboys added the Michigan product to be a run-stuffing presence. Aaron Glenn and Steve Wilks will now begin grooming him in their scheme.
While the Cowboys are adding a proven piece, the Jets continue to tear down a defense that was viewed as one of the league’s best in recent years. Although the unit did not perform as well in 2024 following the Saleh firing, it ranked fourth in total defense in 2022, third in ’23 and third in ’24. Zach Wilson‘s struggles contributed to the team placing 12th in scoring defense in 2023, and Jeff Ulbrich‘s interim HC season closed at 20th in points allowed. But the Jets were one of the toughest teams to move the ball against during the Gardner-Williams years.
It can be argued the Jets will have a difficult time finding replacements for Gardner and Williams, even if the ones added may well be rookie-contract pieces for a while. Gardner earned two first-team All-Pro nods in three full Jets seasons; he is in his age-25 season. The team has now traded Williams and John Franklin-Myers in consecutive years, and Jermaine Johnson could be on the move — for a second-round pick — today as well. Needless to say, the Jets will have a difficult time stopping opponents through season’s end. But their plan is now draft-centric.
The 2000 Jets are the only team to make four first-round picks in the same draft, though Douglas made five combined first-round selections from 2021-22. Of that quintet, only Garrett Wilson appears a safe bet to be with the team in 2026. The Jets traded Wilson last year and have Alijah Vera-Tucker in a contract year. From the 2022 draft, Gardner is gone and Johnson could be following him out the door.
Glenn and GM Darren Mougey will have a chance to add their own foundational pieces beginning next year, as this Jets team is headed toward a top-five pick. The Colts are supplying them with a second first-rounder next year, and the Jets will have three 2027 first-rounders — barring a trade — as well. It will be interesting to see how the team begins its recovery effort, as the Jets were previously viewed as featuring a well-built defense.
Of Williams’ 2026 salary ($21.75MM), $5MM is guaranteed. The Jets are taking on dead money hits of $13.2MM in 2025 and $9.8MM in ’26, according to Spotrac. This is actually more dead cap than the Gardner trade is bringing ($19.75MM) due to contract structure.
Dallas entered the day behind only the Patriots in cap space. Even with Smith’s fully guaranteed contract in the deal, the Cowboys will use a chunk of it on Williams, who is owed roughly $8MM through season’s end. The Cowboys are loaded up with DT salaries, with Clark under contract through 2027 and Odighizuwa through 2028. Williams’ 2027 base salary is nonguaranteed, while Clark is due an $11MM roster bonus on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. Odighizuwa’s 2026 salary is fully guaranteed.
