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Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The New York Jets are trading veteran linebacker Avery Williamson to the Pittsburgh Steelers. League sources told ESPN and the New York Daily News on Sunday that Pittsburgh will send a fifth-round draft pick in 2022 to the Jets in exchange for Williamson and a 2022 seventh-rounder.
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Once the deal is finalized, Williamson will move from the team with the worst record in the NFL (0-8) to the squad with the best record (7-0). He will fill an immediate need for the Steelers, who lost second-year linebacker Devin Bush to a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago.
Williamson, who took a pay cut in the preseason, is in the final year of his contract. According to Spotrac, he is earning a base salary of $2.75 million this season.
The Jets and Steelers had the details of the trade worked out prior to Sunday's games, according to ESPN. Williamson still played 56 of 66 defensive snaps -- recording nine tackles -- in the Jets' 35-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 28-year-old Williamson has been a full-time starter since entering the league as a fifth-round pick in 2014 with the Tennessee Titans. After spending four seasons with the Titans, he signed with the Jets in 2018.
Williamson played in all 16 games for the Jets in the 2018 campaign and notched a career-best 121 total tackles, but he missed the entire 2019 season because of a major knee injury.
In seven games this season, Williamson has tallied 59 total tackles, one interception and three passes defensed.
