Insider Exposes Red Flag for Patriots' Top Addition

The New England Patriots entered free agency with more cap room than any other team in the NFL, and they certainly showed it with the way they threw money around.

The Patriots' biggest free-agent addition — and the most expensive signing of the NFL offseason in general — was defensive tackle Milton Williams, who the team signed to a four-year, $104 million contract.

Williams' contract definitely raised some eyebrows, as he certainly was not a household name throughout most of his first four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. A strong Super Bowl performance put him on everyone's radar, but he has never been known as an elite player.

That's why ESPN's Seth Walder questions Williams' contract and wonders if it was exactly the best use of resources for New England.

"Williams earned a contract that, after adjusting for cap inflation, is comparable in fully guaranteed money ($51 million) to what Chris Jones received in 2020, Jonathan Allen in 2021 and Javon Hargrave in 2023," Walder wrote. "Although he's a nice player, Williams also played only 47% of Philadelphia's snaps in 2024 while playing next to other stout defensive linemen."

Williams has actually never been a full-time player at any point of his career, so the fact that he is now going to be earning $26 million in average annual value is definitely a risky bet for the Pats.

Last year, the 26-year-old registered 24 tackles and five sacks. He logged a pair of sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the Eagles' Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Williams, who played his collegiate football at Louisiana Tech, was selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

He missed just one game throughout his four-year tenure in Philly, so he is certainly durable, but is he worth the money the Patriots just gave him? We are about to find out.