Seahawks center Connor Williams retiring from NFL

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 03: Connor Williams #57 of the Seattle Seahawks in action against the Los Angeles Rams during the third quarter at Lumen Field on November 03, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Seahawks starting center Connor Williams has informed the team of his plans to retire from the NFL, head coach Mike Macdonald said on Friday.

Williams did not practice with the team at all this week for personal reasons, which were the impetus behind his decision to leave the team midseason.

"Connor, earlier this week, decided to retire," Macdonald said. "Personal reasons, we respect that, wish him the best, and we've got to move forward.

"We want to honor his wishes. And, you know, keep all those reasons and conversations private for obvious reasons, and I wish him the best."

Williams, 27, had signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks in August after working his way back from a torn ACL last season playing with the Miami Dolphins. Williams started all nine games at center for the team this season prior to their bye last week.

"We love Connor," guard Laken Tomlinson said. "Everyone is thinking about him. We love him. I respect the hell out of him, man. And everybody has their, you know, things to deal with. And we have his back regardless."

Olu Oluwatimi will jump into the starting role in place of Williams moving forward.

"Olu will play center for us right now, and we're excited for his opportunity. Just like all the other young guys who have had opportunities, Olu's right there, he's been working his tail off, and he's got a great opportunity. We're excited to see him play," Macdonald said.

"He's a guy that's been knocking on the door for a while. Obviously, it's an unforeseen circumstance that you've got to take on head on, but the silver lining in the whole thing is that we get to see Olu go do his thing. This guy's been working really hard, basically started at center for us the whole offseason until we signed Connor, so we've had a really good week of practice with Connor not here, and onward we go."

Oluwatimi made one start for Seattle last season as he primarily served as a backup to Evan Brown. Oluwatimi and Nick Harris were the two centers in training camp with the Seahawks before they signed Williams late in the preseason.

Undrafted rookie Jalen Sundell will now become the backup center behind Oluwatimi.

Williams will be moved to the reserve/retired list on Saturday, which will open up a roster spot to be filled. With tight ends Noah Fant (groin) and Brady Russell (foot) both out this week due to injuries, at least one tight end will need to be elevated for the game. Tyler Mabry is the most likely candidate, though N'Keal Harry was also added to the practice squad earlier this week.

DK Metcalf, Abe Lucas set to return to lineup:

Before the revelation of Williams' retirement, the return of wide receiver DK Metcalf and right tackle Abe Lucas to the lineup was set to be the news of the day.

Metcalf is set to rejoin the lineup after a two-game absence due to a knee injury. Metcalf was second in the NFL in receiving yards at the time of his injury against the Atlanta Falcons last month.

"Excited to have DK back," Macdonald said. "He’s ready to go."

Lucas will make his season debut after a lengthy recovery from knee surgery. Macdonald wouldn't say whether Lucas would start or not and said Lucas' snaps will likely be limited as he sees his first action of the season.

"We’re anticipating to see him right now in a pretty significant manner," Macdonald said. "We’re still on a progression here, so the amount of reps that he’s going to get, we’ll see how the game unfolds. We have a plan, we have a target rep count, we’ll kind of leave that in-house right now."

Lucas was injured in the season opener last year against the Los Angeles Rams and missed the next 10 games. Lucas returned to play five more games before leaving the team's Week 17 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He'd also miss the final game of the year against the Arizona Cardinals before having surgery this offseason.

"I can't speak too much on it, but the injury in itself was a little strange," Lucas said. "The way that it happened and the way it kind of came up was a little weird. It didn’t come all at once. And it’s not chronic for anyone that thinks it’s chronic. Because people have been saying that to me, it's not a chronic injury. It was a serious injury but it got fixed and I rehabbed it."

Lucas isn't one to get emotional or outwardly enthusiastic about his return to the field. He's far more even-keeled about the new developments in his recovery.

"This isn't like, surprising or shocking to me that I'm back now, you know?" Lucas said. "I mean, this was the intent of the mission, so to speak. So I'm just ready for it."

Lucas said he's been able to get much stronger in other areas while recovering from the knee injury as well.

Injury Report: