Browns Free Agency: Profiling Everything You Need To Know About New Lb Quincy Williams

The Cleveland Browns were hopeful that the excellent year that LB Devin Bush had last year would rub off on another excellent season of production going into 2026. And despite being on a series of one-year deals, he appeared to be that he just might return.

Bush then left the confines of the Schwartz-less Browns and signed with the playoff Chicago Bears on a three-year, $30 million deal.

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Bush, coupled with rookie sensation Carson Schwesinger, was an electric pair. Now, Browns GM Andrew Berry had to find a suitable replacement. Without breaking the bank. That left Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd scratched off the list. Who then?

Berry then inked LB Quincy Williams of the New York Jets to a two-year contract worth up to $17 million.

Problem solved? Who is this dude? Why did Berry sign him? What can Browns fans expect?

Beginnings

Williams, age 29, was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and attended Wenonah High School. He was 5’-10” and 215 pounds at this time and played safety, linebacker, and fullback, and participated in track. He had great speed, being timed out at 4.43 with a vertical jump of 37.5”.   

His younger brother is Quinnen Williams, a DT with the Dallas Cowboys who was obtained from the Jets at the trade deadline last year. This means both brothers were playing for the same ballclub. How odd is that? In all, there were three brothers and one sister.

In his senior year, he was voted First Team All-Metro Area and named to the Birmingham News Honorable Mention All-West. In 2013, he won the Alabama state high jump championship with a height of 6’-4”.

His mother passed away from breast cancer in 2010 when he was just 14 years old.  

While the younger Williams had scouts coming out to see him play football in his junior year of high school from Power-5 colleges, Quincy Williams had little interest. His only offer was from Murray State University, located in Murray, Kentucky, just northwest of Nashville.

Williams redshirted his freshman year. As a sophomore, he started three games with 31 total tackles. In his junior campaign, he played in all 10 games with three starts and recorded 32 tackles, four QB hits, one blocked kick, and one batted pass.

As a senior, he started 10 of 11 contests and had two interceptions, a pick-six, one forced fumble, along with 78 tackles.

On to the NFL

Williams was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Right off, the Jags started him at outside linebacker. He played in 11 games with eight starts before a hand injury placed him on IR. It was his first major injury at any level. He finished that year with 48 total tackles.

Early in 2020, Williams again became injured with a core muscle issue. This landed him on IR but returned to action before the Week 5 matchup with the Houston Texans, a 30-14 loss. He played in seven games with zero starts and ended up with 11 tackles. At the final cutdown after training camp the following year, Jacksonville waived him.

He was instantly claimed off waivers by the Jets and signed a four-year deal worth $18 million. His brother Quinnen had been drafted by New York with the third overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft out of Alabama. In the Week 4 home game against the Tennessee Titans, both brothers had a sack. It was a first since the sack became an official stat in 1982.

Williams was the sign of dependable defense for the Jets for the past five years and was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient this past season. He has played in the NFL for seven years, playing in 96 games with 81 starts. He had four straight seasons in which he had 100+ tackles: 2021 (110), 2022 (106), 2023 (139), and 2024 (116). He had 83 this past season.

Other career stats include 21 QB hits, 61 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, 28 batted passes, 10 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 interception, 28 pressures, 5 hurries, 9 knockdowns, and 79 missed tackles. Five of his seven seasons have included double-digit missed tackle numbers, including a high of 15 last year.

In 2023, he had 139 tackles and was named First Team All-Pro, with current Browns DC Mike Rutenberg as his position coach.

Both head coaches that Williams played for with the Jets were defensive-minded. Now with Cleveland, an offensive guy is taking control. He has stated that they will stay true to the Jim Schwartz blueprint, although the new DC is not a Schwartz disciple.

Last year, his Pro Football Focus rating was 45.5. That is a very low number. The main issue is his pass coverage. His man was targeted 48 times, and 35 were completed. Whether it was a running back or a tight end he was covering, they averaged 10.7 yards per reception on Williams. So, all an offense had to do to gain a first down was look in the direction of Williams and fire the ball.

Last year, he was benched in the middle of the season. The Jets informed Williams that he was underperforming. He had some bad coverage habits, missed a lot of tackles, and his numbers from the previous years were at least 25+ fewer tackles. But he remained the best linebacker on New York’s defense in spite of the fact that he isn’t that athletic.

Some wondered if the Jets trading away his brother last season impacted his play as well.

But last year he struggled to maintain his “sideline-to-sideline” effectiveness. The Jets viewed him as a player in decline and attempted to trade him before the trade deadline last year, wanting a fourth-round pick for him. After no takers, they began playing him again, then let him go via free agency.

With Cleveland, Williams is looking for a fresh start, and the Browns are looking for Williams to get back to his 100+ tackle form.

Williams is not married, but he and his girlfriend, Coy, have a daughter. His X is @Q_williamz10, and his Instagram is @thequincywilliams.