RENTON, WA Connor Williams informed the Seattle Seahawks this week that he has made the decision to retire, meaning his time as their starting centre will come to an end after nine games. Following practice on Friday, coach Mike Macdonald made the announcement. Williams had previously been classified as out for Sunday’s game against the 49ers by the Seahawks after missing practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for alleged personal reasons. When asked why Williams, who played for Dallas for four seasons and Miami for two before joining Seattle, is retiring, Macdonald said it’s for “personal reasons.” After the Seahawks’ bye last week, Williams had come back to Seattle and practiced on Monday before announcing his decision to the team.
We’ll respect his desires and keep all the discussions and justifications confidential,” Macdonald stated. ” ” You start talking about schedules and such, and I would prefer to keep Connor and the issues he’s dealing with private. However, that happened this week. When Seattle meets the 49ers in Santa Clara on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET, Macdonald said second-year player Olu Oluwatimi, a fifth-round draft pick in 2023 out of Michigan, will start in Williams’ place. Jalen Sundell, an undrafted rookie free agent, will be the backup.
Oluwatimi worked as the starting center throughout the spring offseason program and the first few weeks of training camp before Seattle signed Williams on Aug. 11. Oluwatimi started one game as a rookie in 2023, a home win over Arizona, but has not played any snaps at center this season; Williams had taken all 618.
Oluwatimi is a man who has been pounding on the door for some time, Macdonald remarked. The bright side of the situation is that we get to watch Olu go about his business, even though it’s an unexpected situation that you sort of face head-on. This man has been putting in a lot of effort; up until we signed Connor, he essentially started at centre for us during the offseason. Since Connor isn’t here, he’s had a great week of practice, so let’s go forward.” After recovering from an ACL injury sustained while playing for Miami in December, the 27-year-old Williams joined with Seattle; nonetheless, Macdonald stated that the knee had no bearing on his decision to retire.
Macdonald said there does not appear to be a chance Williams changes his mind and returns to play, saying “I don’t believe so,” adding that the team will make the necessary moves Saturday to clear Williams off the 53-man roster. That likely means putting Williams on either the reserve/retired list or the reserve/left team list. Macdonald said after Monday’s practice that the team had debated during the bye week moving Williams to guard, the position he played his first four years with Dallas from 2018-21 before moving to center in 2022 with Miami, but felt it was best to leave him at center.
Macdonald didn’t give any indication in that answer that anything was afoot with Williams. It’s also unclear if the team’s decision to leave him at center had anything to do with his decision to retire. Asked Thursday about the decision to leave Williams at center, offense coordinator Ryan Grubb said: “I think the biggest part was we felt like we had made enough headway with Connor there. And also just moving a guy into a position like that, you may set him back further and instead of trying to continue to pour into the development piece, you’re kind of starting over and pushing rewind a little bit there. Not that he couldn’t have been a good guard, but we really just kind of were looking at it in terms of, ‘Alright, do we really want to take that big of a step backwards when we think we’re moving in the right direction?'”
Williams signed a one-year deal worth up to $4 million that included $2.98 million guaranteed, which consisted of a $1.23 million base salary and $1.75 million in a signing bonus. The Seahawks signed Williams with the hope that he could stabilize a mostly young offensive line after he earned an 86.3 grade a year ago from Pro Football Focus, second among NFL centers. The team knew Williams might need some time to get back into football shape following his knee injury and a quick return to play, seeing his first action almost nine months after his injury. Williams also had to adjust to a new offense. That all may have taken a toll as Williams has just a 63.9 PFF grade this season – 18th among centers – has committed eight penalties and uncorked a few bad snaps in the past two games out of the shotgun formation.
When Williams signed in August, the Seahawks felt they had perhaps found their centre for the future as well as for this season. After passing a physical and having an official visit in late July, he signed. Williams said he liked the concept of joining the Seahawks on the first day of a new coaching staff, but he also took the Baltimore Ravens’ offer into consideration. “I always like building, and building with a new team, with a whole new program and everything,” Williams remarked on Aug. 12. “And then how they pursued me and how they wanted me, I think it made a great mutual fit, and so just excited to be part of it.”
Macdonald said he was surprised to hear from Williams that he wanted to retire. “The situation is what it is,” he said. “You’ve just got to make the best of it and move on.” Macdonald indicated there is no ill will between the sides. “We wish him well,” Macdonald said. “This guy has come in and worked really hard for us. Obviously he made the decision that he made, and we’re still here to support him in everything that he needs.”
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