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Redskins are in a tough spot with Trent Williams’ holdout

By Jacob Camenker

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 23: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins enters the field to take on the Philadelphia Eagles during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 23, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 23: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins enters the field to take on the Philadelphia Eagles during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 23, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 2: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins acknowledges the crowd in the fourth inning against the Cleveland Browns at FedExField on October 2, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 2: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins acknowledges the crowd in the fourth inning against the Cleveland Browns at FedExField on October 2, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

It’s still hard to imagine that Williams will hold out of any meaningful regular season action.

Here’s the major bright side to this reported holdout. It seems unlikely to last into the regular season.

More often than not, players that do hold out end up returning to their teams, even if they don’t get a new contract. That’s not a guarantee to happen (again, see Le’Veon Bell last year), but given the nature of incentive-based NFL contracts and game checks, players tend to return to get the bonuses they get from seeing the field.

Williams would be put in a tough spot if he actually held out for this season. He turns 31 in July, so he only has a handful of years left in the NFL at the most. The fact that he is on the wrong side of 30 is exacerbated by the fact that he hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2013. In the past three seasons, he has missed 13 total games, so every game-check he gets counts at this point.

The possibility of Williams sitting out can’t be ignored. But it may just end up being for minicamp. Or part of training camp. Or maybe even into the preseason. But in all likelihood, he will be back with the team for the regular season and will stay in playing shape.

Regardless of the fact that a long-term holdout is unlikely, the ‘Skins shouldn’t look to take that risk. The brain trust in Washington should work towards finding a mutually beneficial solution. Frankly speaking, the team needs him too much to let him go, so they’ll find a way to work things out.

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The leverage does belong to Williams, but maybe it will only take another million or two to make him happy, as that would bring him back into the top five among offensive tackles. But again, the sides could reach an impasse, especially if Washington doesn’t want to give him extra money. We’ll see how this situation unfolds, but for now, it will certainly be a tough one for the Redskins to untangle.

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