The 49ers will face Leonard Williams and the new-look Seahawks twice over the next 5 weeks
The 49ers still have to play Seattle twice, and those will be meaningful games.
Washington Commanders v New York Giants
The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers figure to go down to the wire once again for the NFC West crown. The two teams will play each other three weeks from now, then again after another week in between.
Both teams have been active in making acquisitions all season. The 49ers traded for Randy Gregory, while the Seahawks signed Frank Clark. Neither move was expected to be the last for either.
Sure enough, Seattle made a splash trade Monday morning as the Seahawks sent a second and fifth round pick to the New York Giants in exchange for defensive tackle Leonard Williams.
That move bolsters an already stout defensive line, and gives the Seahawks another pass rusher while taking pressure off nose tackle Jarran Reed. Seattle has a couple of threats along the defensive line, and this will only help.
Blocking Dre’Mont Jones and Reed alone would have been troublesome for the 49ers, but Jones and Reed paired with Williams will pose a significant challenge for an inexperienced Niners offensive line. Williams is 12th in win percentage among all interior defensive linemen, which is one spot lower than Arik Armstead to give you an idea of how well he’s played this season.
The Giants agreed to pay a large portion of Williams’s salary, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, which would explain why it seemed like Seattle overpaid. This should be the first of what could be many trades around the NFL.
