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Brady Henderson, ESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams unexpectedly decided to retire at age 27, leaving the team with eight games left this season.
Coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that the seven-year veteran made the decision earlier this week for “personal reasons.” The only other detail he provided about Williams’ reasoning was that it was not due to any problem with his surgically repaired knee. Macdonald is under the impression the decision is final and says he doesn’t think there’s any chance Williams will change his mind.
“I don’t think so,” Macdonald said. “We are honoring his wishes and will keep all those reasons and conversations private for obvious reasons and wish him the best.”
Macdonald said Olu Oluwatimi will take over at center and the Seahawks will likely make a roster move on Saturday.
Williams had started all nine games for Seattle (4-5) this season and played every offensive snap after signing with the team during training camp. He was at practice Monday when the Seahawks returned from their bye to begin preparations for their Sunday game against the San Francisco 49ers, but was later listed as a non-participant in practice the past three days with a personal/unrelated designation. with injuries. .
Macdonald did not say when he began to get indications that Williams was thinking about retiring. Asked when Williams informed him of his decision, Macdonald said: “It’s been a process all week.”
“You start getting into schedules and stuff, I’d rather keep it private with… Connor and the things he’s working on,” she said. “But it was this week.”
Williams’ departure is a blow to Seattle’s beleaguered offensive line, which ranks 27th in pass-block win rate and has also struggled to create movement in the running game. Injuries have forced the Seahawks to use three different right tackles in the absence of Abraham Lucas. They’ve also rotated at right guard, where Anthony Bradford and rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes have struggled to the point that Seattle considered moving Williams there.
Lucas will make his 2024 debut on Sunday, although he may not play every snap in his first game after knee surgery in January. Lucas participated fully in the last two days of practice.
“We’re hoping to see it now in a pretty significant way,” Macdonald said. “We’re still in a progression here, so the amount of reps he’s going to get, we’ll see as the game develops. We have a plan. We have a target rep count. We’ll pretty much go with that internally at this point, but I’m excited to see him do his thing.”
Wide receiver DK Metcalf was a full participant all week and will return from a sprained MCL that sidelined him the last two games. But the Seahawks will be without No. 1 tight end Noah Fant (groin) and backup Brady Russell (foot), in addition to Williams.
Oluwatimi, a 2023 fifth-round pick, was in line to take over the starting job this season until the Seahawks signed Williams to a one-year, $4 million contract on Aug. 11. He has played just four offensive snaps this season and was a healthy scratch four times in favor of undrafted rookie Jalen Sundell, who has been the only other backup center on Seattle’s 53-man roster.
Oluwatimi made one substitute start as a rookie.
“He’s a guy who’s been knocking on the door for a while,” Macdonald said. “Obviously it’s an unforeseen circumstance that you have to face head on, but the positive side of all this is that we get to see Olu do his thing. This guy has been working very hard. He basically started at center for us all offseason until “We signed Connor. I had a really good week of practice without Connor here, and we moved on.”
Williams returned for the team’s opener on September 8 despite being just nine months removed from an ACL tear (the second of his NFL career) he suffered with the Miami Dolphins that ended his 2023 season and required surgery. Through 10 weeks, he ranks 25th among centers in pass-blocking success rate and has recently struggled with some errant shotgun throws, including one that went well over Geno Smith’s head in Week 8 for a loss of 19 yards.
Williams dealt with a speech impediment as a child and wrote in a 2017 article on NFL.com that he was a frequent target of bullies. He was drafted in the second round in 2018 out of Texas by the Dallas Cowboys and played left guard for his first four seasons before moving to center after signing with Miami in 2022.
“Connor has been on my side the entire time he’s been here,” Oluwatimi said. “I’ve been in his corner the whole time he’s been here. Happy for him. He’ll always be my friend.”
