Milton Williams ready to live up to his big contract with New England Patriots
Milton Williams is a big man with a big contract, and he has big plans for the New England Patriots defense.
The Patriots introduced the defensive lineman to New England on Thursday, as the team welcomed in four of its signings from the first week of NFL free agency. Williams was the biggest splash of them all, after the team gave him to a massive $104 million contract on Monday.
Fresh off a Super Bowl title with the Philadelphia Eagles, Williams is now looking to anchor a New England defensive line that needed to bulk up this offseason. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle should shore up a the Patriots leaky run defense and will also get after opposing quarterbacks.
"I just want to be known for doing it all, versatile, a Swiss Army knife," Williams told reporters inside Gillette Stadium on Thursday. "Line up anywhere and be productive from any spot, run, pass. If I've got to drop in coverage, I feel like I can do that. Wherever they need me to be, whatever they need me to do, I'm ready for the challenge."
Williams was a monster for the Philadelphia defense last season, recording 40 total pressures and five sacks in his limited role. He was a wrecking ball on the biggest stage too, when the Eagles sacked Patrick Mahomes six times in the team's Super Bowl LIX victory. Williams was responsible for two of those sacks, and also had a strip-sack of Mahomes early in the fourth quarter.
He sees the banners hanging at Gillette Stadium and is eager to relive that same glory during his time in New England. The pressure of living up to that big contract only adds to his desire to turn up the heat on opposing quarterbacks.
Why did Milton Williams pick the Patriots?
Before news broke that Williams was signing with the Patriots, it was reported he was close to a deal with the Carolina Panthers. Either team is a bit of a downgrade from the Super Bowl champs, as the Patriots won just four games last season and the Panthers only five.
The massive contract the Patriots offered Williams certainly helped him make his decision. In terms of average annual value, he's now the highest-paid Patriot ever.
But that big payday showed Williams how much the Patriots wanted to bring him aboard, and Williams is determined to live up to his contract.
"That's a blessing, man. I just won the Super Bowl a couple weeks ago, so I thought that was the biggest day of my life, but this is probably going to jump that for sure," he said of being the highest-paid Patriots player. "That's big, man. They believed in me. Obviously they studied me as a player and as a person. They know what I bring to the table, physicality, toughness, determination, and I thrive on people telling me I can't do something. Bring it on."
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel can't wait to let Williams loose in the New England defense.
"When you look at compensation, it's the body of work, it's what they're going to do for us. We always want to be able to not rely on past performances, but that was something -- there was a high ceiling and a great vision about the person, the effort, the skill set, the speed in which he plays. There's a power," Vrabel said of Williams' skillset on Thursday. "Certainly there's an aggressiveness, and being able to add him to our defensive line was something that was really exciting."
During his time at the podium, Vrabel turned to Williams and said the Patriots plan to play him a lot more than he did in Philadelphia, when he played just 48 percent of the Eagles defensive snaps last season. That low percentage was the product of Williams being in a defensive line rotation with the Eagles.
Williams confidently said he's up to Vrabel's challenge on Thursday.
"Definitely. The more you're out there, the more opportunity you've got to make plays. I pride myself on being productive on wherever I line up on the defensive line, and I'm going to bring that here," he said.
Williams isn't worried about a bigger workload. He said his work ethic will help him handle the increase in snaps.
"Putting in work. Plain and simple. Extra work. Asking the coaches whatever I need to do to make sure I'm available for every game, like you said, Sunday, Monday, Thursday. I want to be out there. I want to be out there representing my teammates, this organization. Yeah, I ain't going to leave no stone unturned when it comes to preparing, being healthy, being in the best shape that I can be in, and being out there and being productive."
