Seahawks center Connor Williams abruptly retires from the NFL at 27 years old

RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams has unexpectedly decided to retire at age 27 and walk away from the team with eight games remaining this season.

Coach Mike Macdonald said on Friday the seven-year veteran made the decision earlier this week for “personal reasons”. The only other detail he gave about Williams’ reasoning was that it is not because of problems with his surgically repaired knee. Macdonald is under the impression the decision is final and says he doesn’t think there’s a chance Williams will change his mind.

“I don’t think so,” Macdonald said. “We respect his wishes and we will keep all these 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 Saturday.

Williams had started all nine games for Seattle (4-5) this season and played all offensive snaps 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 game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, but he was then listed as a non-participant in practice the last three days on a non-injury/personal designation.

Macdonald would not specify when he began to have an inkling that Williams was thinking about retirement. Asked when Williams told him of his decision, Macdonald said: “It’s been a process all week.”

“You start getting into schedules and all that, I’d rather keep it private with … Connor and the things he’s working through,” he said. “But it was this week.”

Williams’ departure deals a big blow to Seattle’s contained offensive line, which is 27th in pass block win rate and has also struggled to create movement against the run. Injuries have forced the Seahawks to use three different right tackles in Abraham Lucas’ absence. They’ve also rotated at right guard, with Anthony Bradford and rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes struggling to the point that Seattle considered the possibility of moving Williams there.

Lucas will make his 2024 debut on Sunday, though he may not play every snap in his first game back from knee surgery in January. Lucas was a full participant in the last two days of training.

“We expect to see him right now in a pretty significant way,” Macdonald said. “We’re still on a progression here, so the amount of reps that he’s going to get, we’ll see as the game progresses. We have a plan. We have a goal for reps. We’re just going to leave it in-house right now, but excited to see him go and do his thing.

Wide receiver DK Metcalf was a full participant all week, returning from the MCL sprain that sidelined him the past 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 deal 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 started one inning as a rookie.

“He’s a guy who’s been knocking on the door for a while,” Macdonald said. “Obviously, it’s a contingency that you kind of have to address, but the silver lining in it all is that we’re going to see Olu go and do his thing. This guy has worked really hard. Started pretty much at center for us all offseason until we signed Connor Had a really good week of practice with Connor not here and then we move on.

Williams returned for the team’s Sept. 8 opener despite being just nine months removed from a torn ACL — the second of his NFL career — he continued with the Miami Dolphins, which ended his 2023 season and required surgery. Through 10 weeks, he ranks 25th among centers in pass block win rate and has recently struggled with some errant shotgun snaps, including one he sailed well over Geno Smith’s head in Week 8 for a 19-yard loss.

Dealing with a speech disorder as a toddler, Williams wrote in a 2017 article on NFL.com that he was a frequent target of bullies. He was a 2018 second-round pick out of Texas by the Dallas Cowboys and played left guard his first four seasons before moving to center after signing with Miami in 2022.

“Connor has been in my corner the whole 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 mom.”