Seahawks hope new center Connor Williams will be ready for season opener

RENTON, Wash. — First-year Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said the team’s decision to sign free agent Connor Williams wasn’t too complicated.

“It’s just an opportunity to get a great player on our football team,’’ Macdonald said of the signing of Williams, which became official on Sunday. “It’s really that simple.”

Indeed, the best-case scenario of where this budding relationship ends is Williams manning the middle of Seattle’s offensive line for years to come, and maybe giving the team the kind of consistent anchor at center it hasn’t had since Max Unger was traded following the 2014 season.

But for now, baby steps are required.

On Monday, Williams put on his new Seahawks jersey, No. 57, and walked onto the practice field at the VMAC for the first time, then stood to the side and watched as his new teammates went through a roughly two-and-a-half hour practice.

It was the first time Williams did anything football-related since tearing the ACL in his left knee last Dec. 11 in a game against the Tennessee Titans. And the Seahawks will take it carefully with his knee to assure he is fully ready to go before he is given the green light.

With the Seahawks leaving Tuesday for Nashville and joint practices this week with Tennessee before a game there on Saturday, Williams may not practice until next week prior to the preseason finale against Cleveland on Aug. 24. Macdonald said it’s unclear if Williams will go to Nashville, saying that would be decided Monday night.

“We’ve got a pretty good plan in place now,’’ Macdonald said. “He’ll be with the sports performance folks for the next week or so, until we can get him in full speed for practice. But we’re shooting for either Cleveland week or after to get him out here and practicing for real.”

Regardless of when Williams practices, Macdonald said the plan is for Williams to be ready for the regular-season opener against Denver on Sept. 8.

“That’s the goal right now,’’ Macdonald said.

Williams sounded confident he’ll be ready soon.

“I feel great,’’ he said following Monday’s practice. “I’m probably about 95%. I’m getting there, strength is getting there, pretty symmetrical, honestly. And I think we’re just devising a plan to slowly work back in and slowly get me on the field.’’

Williams said he’s at his listed playing weight of 320 (he’s also listed at 6-foot-5) and that having recovered from a right ACL tear while in college at Texas helped his rehab process go a little more smoothly.

Had Williams not suffered the December injury he surely would have signed long ago, possibly re-upping with Miami, and potentially for a deal much longer and richer than the one-year contract he is getting from Seattle, reported to be worth up to $6 million overall with $3 million guaranteed.

Among other accolades of his play in leading the line for Miami’s explosive offense the last two years, the 27-year-old had the fourth-highest overall grade of all centers from the influential analytic site Pro Football Focus over that span.

Williams said he knew the injury meant he wouldn’t have the same kind of free agent market as he’d hoped.

“Yeah, we wanted to make sure we could get healthy,’’ he said of having to wait to sign. “Just take a long approach with (his wife) and just take a steady approach with it.”

Interest picked up in late July with his agent Drew Rosenhaus saying publicly Williams was healthy and arranging visits with teams. Williams visited Seattle on July 24, then had a visit with the Baltimore Ravens last week before the deal with the Seahawks came together.

“I always like building, and building with a new team, with a whole new program and everything,’’ said Williams, who began his career as a second-round pick with the Dallas Cowboys in 2018 and played four years there before signing with Miami in 2022. “And then how they pursued me and how they wanted me, I think it made a great mutual fit. Just excited to be part of it.”

Once healthy, Williams officially will join second-year player Olu Oluwatimi in a battle for the starting center job.

But the expectation of everyone is that the job will quickly become his. Seattle cleared out a potential logjam at the position Sunday by trading backup Nick Harris to Cleveland for what was essentially a swap of late-round picks in 2026 (Seattle got a sixth-rounder while giving a seventh-rounder to Cleveland).

Seattle also has undrafted rookie free agent Jalen Sundell and he worked with the second unit in practice Monday behind Oluwatimi.

“I’m excited to see Connor come out here and do his thing,’’ Macdonald said. “Haven’t seen him live yet with us. We have a great plan with him and we’ll see where he’s at in a week or so.”

Macdonald, though, also seemed to make clear that the offensive line can use a little steadying after a spotty performance against the Chargers.

Of Seattle’s 11 full-length drives, eight went for 21 yards or less and the Seahawks couldn’t push it in on a fourth-and-goal at the Chargers’ 1 in the third quarter.

“I think, mirroring the rest of the football team, there’s some really great plays and there’s some plays that we need to chase,’’ Macdonald said. “But our offensive line, to a high degree, is going to drive our football team and we expect great things out of them. There’s a high standard to play here, offensive line-wise, but there’s a lot of good stuff on tape. But I think we need to be more consistent, especially with our targeting in some of the run schemes, and I think we need to give our quarterback some more time in some of those critical pass situations.”

The hope is Williams will help with all of that.

After starting four years at guard for Dallas he moved to center with Miami. He allowed only three sacks in playing all 17 games in 2022 and last year had the second-best run blocking grade of all centers from PFF.

“I try to pride myself on being an aggressive, fast, physical player,’’ he said. “And I think this is a great place to do that.”

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