Would you rather Williams or Davis?

[ManchesterEagle]

Would you rather lock up Williams long term or pick up Jordan Davis’s 5th year option?

I’ve heard talk of Williams getting 20 million dollars a year. If that’s anywhere near true there is no way the Eagles can or should keep him.

But let’s say he’s on the table at around 10-12 million a year. Do you get him signed for 3-4 years or do you pick up Davis for a 5th year at 11 million. Or indeed neither! 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Let’s talk hypothetically… Say Williams is $12M a year and we can get Davis for $10M (I’m assuming there that Howie gets a deal done rather than the 5th year but we know he’s used it before on others). Do you try and bring both back? Maybe at that kind of price you can get both done and resign Baun? I know our cap situation isn’t great but we also know Howie will work it all out. We also know he’ll restructure deals etc.

Anyway you asked which one ☺️ so if I have to pick I’m going Davis I think. He’s the cheaper player and I still think there’s room for him to continue to improve. I also think Ojomo can step up and we very likely draft a DT either in the first round or very likely first 3 rounds.

[pgcd3]

If they both cost the same Williams but they won’t. I’m only re-signing Davis at a discount. He’s improved but he’s playing 15 snaps

[beto_eagles]

I'd keep Williams and trade Davis this offseason. I know they have different roles, but knowing that Carter will cost a lot in 2 years, you can only pick 1. Williams has proven to be the more valuable player in Fangio's defense, so it's better to get good value out of Davis now and find his replacement in the draft.

That said, if Williams is asking for 20 million per year, he's gone. We just have to hope Davis is cheaper (he should).

[Cheesteakitis]

Here is regular season snaps and % for the eagles Dt’s 

Defensive tacke

Jalen Carter: 831 snaps (79%)
Milton Williams: 501 snaps (48%)
Jordan Davis: 388 snaps (37%)
Moro Ojomo: 388 snaps (37%)
Thomas Booker IV: 166 snaps (16%)

After playing 563 snaps as a rookie, Carter’s snap count took a huge jump this season after the retirement of Fletcher Cox. And his 79% is way lower than how much Carter played down the stretch. Carter got Week 18 off and was able to get out of some blowouts. But from Week 11 through Week 16, Carter played 359/384 snaps (93.5%). Williams also played a career-high in snaps in a contract year. Davis has started all 34 games over the last two years but his snaps went from 519 in 2023 to 388 in 2024. Ojomo, a seventh-round pick in 2023, earned a big role in Year 2 after playing just 68 snaps as a rookie.

 

 

I mean in all honesty this question is kind of silly atleast the way it’s phrased… who wouldn’t take Williams  for 3-4 years vs Davis for only 2.  They are both good but different types of DT’s. 
The biggest thing is going to come down to the money we can all see that Carter is a generational talent his contract will be huge and howie needs some space to make it happen but we also no he is the master of the cap so we will find out! 

 

[Bwestbrook36]

1 hour ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Let’s talk hypothetically… Say Williams is $12M a year and we can get Davis for $10M (I’m assuming there that Howie gets a deal done rather than the 5th year but we know he’s used it before on others). Do you try and bring both back? Maybe at that kind of price you can get both done and resign Baun? I know our cap situation isn’t great but we also know Howie will work it all out. We also know he’ll restructure deals etc.

Anyway you asked which one ☺️ so if I have to pick I’m going Davis I think. He’s the cheaper player and I still think there’s room for him to continue to improve. I also think Ojomo can step up and we very likely draft a DT either in the first round or very likely first 3 rounds.

If we can get them at that price sure but, there is no way in hell either of them will only get that. Also if you are willing to give davis 10 million per then you might as well just use his 5th year option at 11 million. 

[brkmsn]

I do expect Williams to have a market value over $20M/year. Davis, if we pick up the 5th year will only cost about $16M over the next 2 years.  Davis is the de facto NT on the team and we don't really have anybody else currently on the roster to fill that role. Williams is deserving of the money he will get, but we have a good, young, cheap replacement for him (Ojomo) already on the roster.

In the end, you don't like to lose really good players in free agency, but if you have drafted well and have a capable replacement already on the roster, you can let a player leave and just hope he doesn't go to a division rival. 

One other note, I'm surprised that other fans don't really see this yet. The culture on the team under Sirianni is family. Don't discount what it means to Carter to have Davis around every day. The team understands this. Hopefully fans begin to understand this too. 

Bonus note ... Davis was also a bit of a project when drafted. We traded up to get him because of his potential. It's only been 3 years so far. He can still keep getting better. It may be a blessing that he hasn't fulfilled all his potential yet. Maybe the Eagles will extend him for a moderate amount rather than using the 5th year option and keep his cap hit relatively low for several years while locking him up and keeping space to eventually make Carter the highest paid DT in the league. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

55 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

If we can get them at that price sure but, there is no way in hell either of them will only get that. Also if you are willing to give davis 10 million per then you might as well just use his 5th year option at 11 million. 

Fair point… Though I guess I meant Howie might try and get him signed up for say 3 years with a $10M cap hit?

[Mike030270]

Williams. I'm not high on Davis as a lot of others and I don't think it's worth it to keep him just to keep Carter happy

[Bwestbrook36]

17 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Fair point… Though I guess I meant Howie might try and get him signed up for say 3 years with a $10M cap hit?

Thats true, it will be interesting to see what Howie comes up with. I think Howie has earned a looooonngg leash to work lol

[Ace Nova]

Both?

Most likely Williams is going to get a nice offer somewhere.

Davis, on the other hand, is still on his rookie deal all of this year plus his 5th year option shouldn't break the bank.  Davis has played really well towards the end of the season and in the playoffs, with limited snaps.  Sacks, pressures, and run stops - he's coming onto his own.  He's already a solid run blocker and has shown he can also create pressure when given the opportunity.

And let's not forget, we gave Williams the opportunity to play out his rookie contract - because of that, he won a Super Bowl and is about to make enough money to set his family up for life.

Jordan Davis deserves the same opportunity. 

Don't sleep on Jordan Davis. 

[brkmsn]

25 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Williams. I'm not high on Davis as a lot of others and I don't think it's worth it to keep him just to keep Carter happy

So you'd be willing to keep Williams if it means seeing Carter walk in free agency? It's just a hypothetical. But I also believe Davis is solid at worst, is the only NT on the team and would probably be on the field a lot more if we played a team like Detroit. So it's not solely for the reason of keeping Carter here, but also because he's doing more than just burning a roster spot. 

 

 

[kiwinavega]

This is tough... There isn't a great deal of difference between the two, although it seems to me that Williams is a better player. That said, the chemistry of all the Georgia boys is undeniable. If I can keep that, while saving some cap space for other areas of the team and not having a massive drop in quality, that's my option. So, Davis.

[PoconoDon]

Does Davis significantly improve his endurance and drop 25 lbs. of baby fat he's still carrying? If So, keep Davis. If not, Williams at a fair price is the better choice. If Williams is off the charts costly, then keep Davis and draft a DT.

[LacesOut]

Keep both!! Make that interior D Line mean and nasty!!

[Miami]

Neither.  Davis has a chance to earn another contract but really needs to step it up first.

[Utebird]

5 hours ago, PoconoDon said:

Does Davis significantly improve his endurance and drop 25 lbs. of baby fat he's still carrying? If So, keep Davis. If not, Williams at a fair price is the better choice. If Williams is off the charts costly, then keep Davis and draft a DT.

I dont think Davis losing weight is going to help help his game, his best ability is being able to stuff run lanes, losing weight isnt going to help him do that better nor is it going to help him be a better pass rusher.

He needs to improve his conditioning and his technique, hes not a fast twitch explosive guy like Vita Vea or Dexter Lawrence, he's more a cant move him out of the way guy, he needs to work on getting forward push rather than just being immovable, losing weight imo isnt going to help him accomplish that.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

12 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Thats true, it will be interesting to see what Howie comes up with. I think Howie has earned a looooonngg leash to work lol

I trust Howie basically. If he wants to keep them all then I think he finds a way to do it. If we don’t keep any of our FAs it’s because we didn’t want to or they were getting some crazy offers that we weren’t going to match. Howie finds ways to keep the players we really want to keep.

[Procus]

This is a very hypothetical situation which I doubt very much would happen.  Williams is getting offered big money by another team, and I doubt that the Eagles match.  I also suspect that Williams' stats will take a hit after he has to play next to somebody other than Jalen Carter.  It's much easier to put up bigger numbers when your teammate playing next to you is constantly getting double and triple teamed.

I don't think Howie is keen on breaking up the Georgia Bulldog group on the defense.

 

[ManchesterEagle]

2 hours ago, Procus said:

This is a very hypothetical situation which I doubt very much would happen.  Williams is getting offered big money by another team, and I doubt that the Eagles match.  I also suspect that Williams' stats will take a hit after he has to play next to somebody other than Jalen Carter.  It's much easier to put up bigger numbers when your teammate playing next to you is constantly getting double and triple teamed.

I don't think Howie is keen on breaking up the Georgia Bulldog group on the defense.

 

Agreed that Williams may get overpaid and that would take us out.

But in any event the fifth year option is interesting, particularly as Davis has in effect been the 4th DT for the last 8-10 games.

[Bwestbrook36]

4 minutes ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Agreed that Williams may get overpaid and that would take us out.

But in any event the fifth year option is interesting, particularly as Davis has in effect been the 4th DT for the last 8-10 games.

He has given the 5th year option to struggling 1st round picks that still show some promise. Like Nelson Agholor comes to mine or Derek Barnett. Davis has struggled but, he isnt on Reagor level bad to move on from him before the 5th year. Imo

[UK_EaglesFan89]

15 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

He has given the 5th year option to struggling 1st round picks that still show some promise. Like Nelson Agholor comes to mine or Derek Barnett. Davis has struggled but, he isnt on Reagor level bad to move on from him before the 5th year. Imo

Yeah I think he’s struggled compared to where he was drafted but he’s been a good solid player… so it’s a hard one to gauge but I think Howie will sign him.

[ManchesterEagle]

47 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

He has given the 5th year option to struggling 1st round picks that still show some promise. Like Nelson Agholor comes to mine or Derek Barnett. Davis has struggled but, he isnt on Reagor level bad to move on from him before the 5th year. Imo

Agholor just had a breakout year in year 3. 768 yards and 8 TDs followed by a strong postseason. Not ideal from a first rounder but he was a key contributor.

People like to hate on Barnett but he was a key part of the DL rotation after 3 years and was on pace for 7-8 sacks a year in his last 2 years over a 16 game season and was solid against the run. Again not ideal but at that point in his career he had shown more than BG in his first 3 years.

I definitely see some promise in Davis but he has been playing 20-25% of snaps and has fallen behind a 7th round draft pick in the rotation. Hopefully the plan is to play him more next year, but if Fangio doesn’t like him, difficult to justify the 5th year option.

[mattwill]

19 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Would you rather lock up Williams long term or pick up Jordan Davis’s 5th year option?

I’ve heard talk of Williams getting 20 million dollars a year. If that’s anywhere near true there is no way the Eagles can or should keep him.

But let’s say he’s on the table at around 10-12 million a year. Do you get him signed for 3-4 years or do you pick up Davis for a 5th year at 11 million. Or indeed neither! 

If they were/are both $10-12 then I renew both.

[pallidrone]

I think that we are looking at these guys as the same thing, but they are completely different type of players.

Davis is a space eater. He is more out there on running downs taking out o-line men to allow others to come in and make the plays. He is a big reason why our running defense has been so good. People are expecting him to be a pass rusher, but that is not his game. Finding someone that size is hard.

Williams is more a pass rushing DT. That is why he is sticking out so much, especially this year with teams doubling up on Carter. He was able to eat a lot more then before. I believe his production will go down on whatever team he ends up on mainly because of Davis and Carter.

I think Williams is more replaceable then Davis is, especially in the run game.