Derek Wolfe and Sylvester Williams: Similar expectations, different motivations

These guys like to let their play speak for itself.

It’s a prospect that has both haunted and recently propelled them to success in the NFL. As they entered the league as high draft picks in 2012 and 2013, both Sylvester Williams and Derek Wolfe carried the high expectations and have now displayed they were worth it.

But both are not similarly compensated just yet.

Wolfe signed a new contract during the team’s Super Bowl 50 run in 2015 but Williams is now in limbo due to the Broncos decision to decline the fifth-year option on his contract. Despite the different perspectives from varying bank accounts, both are ready to continue to show their value to not only John Elway but to Denver fans as well.

“I love the city, the fans. The people here are great. I couldn’t imagine playing in another city,” Wolfe said Wednesday with is trademark intensity. “I don’t really want to ever have to play in another city. I’ll probably just play here until I decided to just be done. That’s my plan.”

That sentiment surely drove his desire to sign a 4-year, $36.7 million deal in January. Wolfe had an extremely explosive season, he was a disruptive force against both the run and the pass and while the team also wanted to sign Malik Jackson long-term, they had to get a deal done with one of the two before both hit the unrestricted free agent market following the season.

Although Jackson certainly has turned into an excellent defensive end, Wolfe has been more consistent since joining the team in 2012 as the team’s 36th overall pick in the draft. Before the 2016 season began Jackson had compiled only eight starts since 2012, while Wolfe tallied 43. Jackson went on to hit the free agency market and cashed in, to the tune of $85.5 million over five years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wednesday, Wolfe was asked if he had any regrets about the decision to sign before hitting the market.

“Absolutely not. I did what I felt what was right,” he explained. “I’m happy for Malik. He deserves it. I’m where I wanted to be. You can’t put a price on happiness. I’m happy and that’s all that really matters.”

Now, with a lengthy deal in place, Wolfe feels expectations may have changed put pressure is still there. While some players may become complacent after receiving a big contract, he sees it differently.

“To me, I have to prove my worth, prove that I was worth that much money,” he  said with sincerity. “I have to go out there and prove to the fans, to the team, to the organization, to my teammates and to everybody that I’m worth that much money. To me, it puts a little bit more pressure on me actually.”

It will be hard to top his 2015-16 numbers. He started every game following a four-game suspension to start the season. He played in 58.9-percent of defensive snaps during the regular season, tallying 49 tackles (nine for a loss), 5.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits in the regular season before tying for third on the team for postseason tackles with 15 while adding 2.5 more sacks.

Williams was also under much scrutiny since he entered the league in 2013 as the team’s 28th overall pick in the draft. He struggled to handle the pressures of fitting into former head coach John Fox’s 4-3 defense but made the transition nicely in 2015 to Wade Phillips 3-4. Without big Terrence “Pot Roast” Knighton at nose in 2015, all the onus was on Williams and he delivered nicely.

He started every game except at San Diego, in which the team came out in a nickel defense to start the contest. Previous to 2015, he started 17 regular season games. The 6-foot-2, 313-pounder finished the 2015-16 regular season with 24 tackles (four for a loss), three sacks and four quarterback hits.

Williams seemed to have proven to the coaching staff that he was worth signing long-term but his first-round draft status complicated things.

As stated in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, first-round picks receive a four-year contract with a team option for the fifth year. If a team picks up that fifth year, the player is given a salary based on averages of most of starting players at that position. For Williams, that number would have been around $6.75 million dollars, according to the team site. The Broncos declined to pick up that option May 2, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2017 unless another deal is brokered.

According to Williams, the team sat him down and made it clear why that decision was made.

“Pretty much they just said they love me and they love what I did last year but they thought the number was high for my position and the amount of snaps that I played,” Williams said plainly Thursday. “They pretty much just told me to keep working.”

Williams’ snaps were limited. He often played during first and second down before being subbed out for other defensive tackles and ends throughout the season. He finished the season playing in on 48.7-percent of defensive snaps despite not missing a game. That fact is not lost on Williams as he enters a vital season in regards to his future.

“I want to play more snaps than I did last year,” he said. “I think last year I played around 50 percent of the snaps. I want to obviously improve on that. I think I have the opportunity to if I keep working. My biggest thing is just make more plays—make big-time plays for this team and just keep working hard every day.”

“The most important thing is I’m a Bronco for 2016,” Williams concluded. “I want to go out and compete for another championship and make this team the best it can be.”

The two players can rest on the fact that both have proven to be solid draft picks. They are now Super Bowl Champions and owners of multiple solid seasons of play in the National Football League. However, for both, expectations have not ceased but simply changed.