Seattle Seahawks starting center Connor Williams has reportedly decided to retire immediately mid season | NFL News – Times of India

A new starting center for the Seattle Seahawks is sorely needed after Connor Williams retired from the NFL mid-season to recover from a severe knee injury he suffered playing in 2023 for the Miami Dolphins. Williams entered the league in 2018 as the No. 50 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft for the Dallas Cowboys, but initially started there at left guard before being benched after eight weeks. He eventually became a starting left guard after an injury to Zach Martin. Williams has played for the biggest teams in the NFL.

Connor Williams retired from the NFL mid-season to recover from a severe knee injury

Seattle Seahawks starting center Connor Williams has reportedly decided to retire immediately, the team’s coach, Mike Macdonald, told reporters on Friday. He also stated that he feels Williams will not reverse the decision and return for the Seahawks to play out this season.

Williams was drafted by Dallas Cowboys with the 50th overall pick in the second round of 2018 NFL Draft with the hope of allowing him to play guard. The Cowboys began tabbing him as the starting left guard before benching him during the first eight games in Week 10 and giving way to Xavier Su’a-Filo. He then played the next two games at right guard because of Zack Martin’s injury.
He signed a two-year deal valued at $14 million on March 17, 2022, to the Miami Dolphins. He quickly became the center and officially named a starter over Michael Deiter as the offseason program began. He played all 17 games, giving up 3 sacks and 6 penalties. He was the one player to play 100 percent of the offensive snaps with 1,057 snaps for the team.
Williams was tabbed the number one center on the depth chart coming into the 2023 NFL season; the season had officially opened on August 8. On August 29 Dan Feeney was traded to the Chicago Bears and Alama Uluave was assigned to the practice squad, so Williams came into the season as the Dolphins’ first-string center. In the Week 14 game against the Titans, he tore his ACL and was placed on injured reserve on December 13, 2023.
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Head coach Pete McDonald said Olu Oluwatimi will take over starting center responsibilities. Seattle selected Oluwatimi in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft. He played one game last year and has played four snaps this season.