New York Jets to trade Pro Bowl DL Leonard Williams to Giants

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The New York Jets are trading Pro Bowl defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the New York Giants for draft picks.

League sources told ESPN and NFL Media on Monday that the Giants are sending a third-round pick in 2020 and a 2021 fifth-round selection to the Jets in exchange for Williams.

The fifth-rounder can become a fourth-round choice if Williams signs a contract extension with the Giants before the beginning of the 2021 league year. According to ESPN, the Jets will pay $4 million out of the remaining $6 million on his contract this season.

Williams, a first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. If the Giants are unable to re-sign Williams in the off-season, the team would be eligible to recoup a compensatory draft pick for the following year, according to ESPN.

In seven games this season, Williams has notched 20 total tackles and one pass breakup. He has appeared in every regular-season game with the Jets since entering the league in 2015, recording 240 career tackles, 17 sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles and four passes defensed.

The pending trade between the Jets and the Giants marked the first swap between the New York franchises since 1983, according to NFL Media. In that deal, the Giants traded offensive lineman Chris Foote to the Jets for a conditional draft choice.