New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams is poised to become an unrestricted free agent in March, and while general manager Dave Gettleman surrendered quite a bit of draft capital to obtain him, Williams isn’t keen on giving any sort of discount.

Rather, Williams will reportedly command upwards of $15 million annually when negotiating his next contract, which would be a substantial chunk of change to invest in a rotational defensive lineman that ultimately pairs with three others.

Still, Williams has proven himself to be a legitimate talent against the run and an underrated pass rusher based on the analytics (apparently we now ignore certain analytics when they’re counter-productive to an argument). But still, $15 million per season?

Even to the non-cap expert that seems steep and Pro Football Focus agrees. Despite routinely praising Williams as a talented defender, PFF argues that at the current reported cost, the defensive lineman simply isn’t worth it — especially for the Giants.

NO DEAL: DI LEONARD WILLIAMS (5 YRS – $15M AVG/YR) $43m guaranteed, $75m total Similar to the argument for Clowney, Williams is a defensive lineman who has always added more as a run-stuffer than he has as a pass-rusher. Though he was a better pass-rusher in 2019 than his one sack would indicate, Williams still only recorded a pass-rushing grade of 66.2, and he has recorded a pass-rushing grade of over 70.0 only once in his career (2018, 71.4). If the primary thing that you’re bringing to the table defensively is your ability to stop the run — something that Williams does do at a high level — then you’re not going to be worth a $75 million contract with $43 million guaranteed. Add in the fact that the 2019 season saw him produce the lowest grade of his career at 70.6 overall, and I would be hesitant, as a general manager, to pay him something in this vicinity.

What more needs to be said? Williams is an elite run-stuffer and average, albeit underrated pass rusher. Still, that’s not enough to warrant $15 million annually.

The Giants can not gamble further on Williams, hoping he suddenly rounds into shape. The investment is already too steep and you’ve got to pay based on what you’ve seen, not what you hope will come in the future.