Former third-round defensive tackle Milton Williams was never counted on to be the sort of every-down edge rusher others were asked to be when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles.
That doesn't mean the Louisiana Tech product wasn't valuable to the organization.
In four seasons with the Eagles, Williams recorded 11.5 sacks with three of those coming in the playoffs. Along the way, the 26-year-old defensive tackle saw his playing time increase each and every year he was on the team.
But following the team's victory in Super Bowl LIX, the veteran tackle knew his time with Philly was running out - they simply had too many great players on their roster to keep him for the price he was looking for.
And that's the price he got.
Williams signed a free agent deal with the New England Patriots this offseason that paid him the third-highest at his position with an annual average of over $26 million. He recently reflected on his free agent journey that brought him to Foxboro as well.
"My agent was on the phone, and I was kind of in the room," Williams explained. "They were on the phone talking to teams, and teams were coming in with new deals. There was a lot going on, and it happened really fast.
“They talked about Carolina then and I was like, 'alright, it sounds like the best offer we are going to get, so, we were going to go there.'”
While Carolina was one of the first teams to inquire about Williams, the Patriots made sure they wouldn't lose arguably the best defensive player in free agency this year.
“Carolina felt like they went too high on their number, so, they stayed at where they were at,” said Willaims. “New England came in, and it was [over] after that. They wanted me the most and made me a priority.
“So, I made them a priority."
Philadelphia will sorely miss Williams. But on a team with so many stars, they simply couldn't make him the priority he wanted to be.
New England was one of the few teams who could.
