RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams has unexpectedly decided to retire at the age of 27, leaving the team with eight games remaining.

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

“I don’t believe it,” Macdonald said. “We respect his wishes and we will keep all those 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 with Williams on Saturday.

Williams has started all nine games for Seattle (4-5) this year and has played every offensive action since 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 subsequently listed as a non-participant at practice for the past three days with a non-injury-related injury. /personal designation.

Macdonald would not say when he began to suspect that Williams was considering retirement. Asked when Williams told him about his decision, Macdonald said: “It’s been a process all week.”

“You’re starting to get into schedules and stuff, I prefer to keep it private with… Connor and the things he’s working on,” he said. “But it was this week.”

Williams’ departure is a major blow to Seattle’s embattled offensive line, which ranks 27th in pass block wins and has also struggled to create movement in the run game. Injuries have forced the Seahawks to use three different right tackles in Abe Lucas’ absence. They also rotated at right guard, where Anthony Bradford and rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes struggled enough that Seattle considered the possibility of moving Williams there.

Lucas will make his 2024 debut on Sunday, although he may not play every second in his first game after knee surgery in January. Lucas was a full participant during the last two training days.

“We expect to see him now in quite a significant way,” Macdonald said. “We’re still making progress here, so the number of reps he’s going to get, we’ll see as the game unfolds. We have a plan. We have a target number of reps. We’ll kind of leave that’s in the house now, but I’m happy to see him go do his thing.

Wide receiver DK Metcalf was a full participant all week and will return from the MCL sprain that sidelined him for the last 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 poised to take over the starting job this season until the Seahawks signed Williams to a one-year, $4 million contract on Aug. 11. He has played just four offensive snaps this season and has been 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 made one fill-in start as a rookie.

“He’s a guy who’s been knocking on the door for a while,” Macdonald said. “It’s obviously an unforeseen circumstance that you have to deal with, but the positive thing about it all is that we see Olu doing his thing. This guy has worked very hard. In fact, he started at center for us all offseason until we signed Connor .We had a really good week of practice with Connor, not here, and from there we go.

Williams made it back for the team’s opener on September 8, despite being just nine months removed from a torn ACL – the second of his NFL career – he suffered with the Miami Dolphins that ended his 2023 season and required surgery had. Through 10 weeks, he ranks 25th among centers in number of successful block wins and has recently struggled with a number of errant shotgun snaps, including one he sailed well over Geno Smith’s head in Week 8 for a loss of 19 meters.

Williams dealt with a speech impediment as a young child and wrote in a 2017 article on NFL.com that he was a frequent target of bullies. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2018 second round out of Texas and played the first four seasons at left guard 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 was in his corner the whole time he was here. I’m happy for him. He will always be my favorite.’