New England Patriots
“They went the extra mile to go get Milton Williams.”
Milton Williams has been worth the price that the Patriots paid this offseason to lure the former Eagles standout lineman to New England — with the 26-year-old Williams helping turn Mike Vrabel’s defense into one of the stingiest in the league against the run.
A young defensive lineman capable of both generating pressure up the middle and clogging up running lanes was one of the priorities for the Patriots last offseason as Eliot Wolf and Co. tried to shore up multiple holes across the depth chart.
But, speaking on NBC Sports Boston’s “Patriots Pregame Live” before New England’s win over the Bengals, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that New England’s decision to hand Williams the largest contract in franchise history in March was actually a contingency plan.
According to Breer, the Patriots’ top offseason’ target entering the spring was actually Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
“Mike Vrabel uses this word a lot: Pivot,” Breer said. “The Patriots’ pivot in this case was not to [Chris] Godwin or to [Stefon] Diggs, it was actually to Milton Williams. And with the money that they freed up — that they would have perhaps given to Tee Higgins — they went the extra mile to go get Milton Williams.”
The Patriots were linked to Higgins well before this past offseason, especially with the writing potentially being on the wall that Cincinnati wasn’t going to be able to afford hefty new contracts for both Higgins and their top wideout, Ja’Marr Chase.
But, for the second year in a row, the Bengals decided to place a franchise tag on Higgins in March before ultimately signing him to a four-year, $115 million contract extension.
With the chance to bring in an explosive wideout like Higgins no longer on the table, New England shifted that available cash toward Williams — who was reportedly on the cusp of signing a contract with the Carolina Panthers before New England bested their offer.
“The Patriots blew Milton Williams and his camp out of the out of the water with a $26 million per year offer, and Milton Williams is a Patriot and is probably one of their three or four best players,” Breer said. “Now, it all worked out because the personnel department, the coaching staff, was able to pivot off of having Higgins as the initial target. Then they filled the receiver need a little bit later on with Stephon Diggs.
“So again, I think it’s a good example of how the operation is working down there right now.”
Even though Higgins would have been a key pickup for Drake Maye and the Patriots, the case can be made that New England made the most of their fiscal flexibility by both bringing in a marquee defensive free agent like Williams and then rolling the dice on a veteran wideout like Diggs.
Coming off a torn ACL injury, the 31-year-old Diggs has fit the bill as New England’s sought-after WR1, with the former All-Pro on pace for 962 receiving yards so far this season.
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