Eagles Should Absolutely Consider Trading for Leonard Williams

When defensive end Leonard Williams was coming out of USC back in 2015, you would've thought he already had a bronze bust in the NFL Hall of Fame already waiting for him.

Unfortunately, his career hasn't gone as planned as a member of the New York Jets, who selected him with the sixth overall pick, which is why he's been mentioned as a potential trade target at the deadline.

Jets DC Gregg Williams highly complimentary of Leonard Williams. Says he grades out highly every week. Does stuff that doesn’t show up on stat sheet, he says. (Only 1 tackle last week.) #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 11, 2019

Williams is a free agent after the season, and it's unlikely that the Jets are going to fork over big money for a player who has only seven sacks since 2016, including zero thus far this season.

Williams still has upside and would certainly help any defense that's interested, and one team that makes a ton of sense as a possible landing spot is the Philadelphia Eagles, who should certainly be considering a move for him ahead of the Week 8 trade deadline.

'New York Jets: Leonard Williams mentioned as a trade target for the Eagles' via @thejetpress https://t.co/HW9lMQclTW
— Augie (@kushflavrdjager) October 12, 2019

You might think that his inability to sack the quarterback is because he's being double-teamed. That makes sense considering the Jets don't have many playmakers on defense, but the data doesn't back that up.

Last season, Williams was only doubled-teamed on 17.4% of snaps, and that's only decreased in 2019.

This isn’t the first time Leonard Williams has been connected to the #Eagles. @AlbertBreer mentions he may be of interest to a team like Philly. Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas are very familiar with each other... could work for both sides. Also think Philly addresses CB soon too. https://t.co/71gViiuT85
— Dashawn Abrams (@dashawn_abrams) October 11, 2019

Of course, continually playing for a bad team would have an impact on any player's production. Getting out of New York and landing in a new defensive system could be just what a young talent like Williams would need to thrive and put up big numbers.

Philadelphia is a middle-of-the-pack defense when it comes to getting to the quarterback. Spending a mid-to-late round pick for someone with Williams' upside is worth the gamble.