Milton Williams’ big payday is coming with a bigger role in New England
After making Milton Williams the highest-paid player in franchise history, the New England Patriots will likely have him playing a bigger role for them than he did for the Eagles last year.
At the start of 2025 NFL Free Agency, the New England Patriots made defensive tackle Milton Williams one of the highest-paid players on the market, and the highest-paid player in franchise history in terms of annual average value. Williams’ contract is a four-year deal worth $104 million, including $51 million guaranteed.
“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 – that’s big, man,” Williams said on Thursday when asked about the contract at his introductory press conference. “Like I said, 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.”
With that big contract though, should come a bigger role. Williams, who turns 26 next month, had a career year during the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl run last season, with 54 pressures and five sacks. However he did that in a rotational role – his 48% usage rate and 501 total defensive plays were both the most he’s had in a season in his four-year career.
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Given his contract and the state of the Patriots’ defense, it stands to reason he’ll be asked to do more in 2025 and beyond. That’s something head coach Mike Vrabel alluded to on Thursday in his opening remarks introducing the players before they spoke.
“I hope you want to play more than you played in Philadelphia,” Vrabel said, talking about Williams. “I know that you guys were extremely successful, but we want to play him a little bit more than that and hope we can do that.”
“The more you’re out there, the more opportunity you’ve got to make plays,” Williams said, when asked about that comment from Vrabel. “I pride myself on being productive on wherever I line up on the defensive line, and I’m going to bring that here.”
Just how much will Williams play? If Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams are going to use a similar philosophy in Tennessee, Williams could end up playing a similar role to the one two-time All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons played in that defense. After playing 49% of the snaps his rookie year in 2019, Simmons played between 80% and 85% of the snaps of the games he was active for over the next four years under Vrabel.
That kind of significant increase in playing time will be a new physical test for Williams – something he says he knows he’ll need to adapt to. How does he plan on doing that?
“Putting in work. Plain and simple. Extra work,” Williams aid when asked that question on Thursday. “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. 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.”
Williams being a regular on the defensive line would help the Patriots’ stabilize a group that really struggled last season, not just in terms of production but also availability. Keion White led all Patriots defensive linemen with a 74.2% usage rate in 2024. The only other players who played more than 40 percent of the defensive snaps were pending free agent Daniel Ekuake and recently-traded Davon Godchaux. With Williams leading the way, the unit should look almost completely overhauled in 2025.
