“Want to play him a little bit more” - Mike Vrabel sets record straight on Patriots’ $104,000,000 free agency signing

Milton Williams will have an opportunity to show what he’s worth with the New England Patriots, a chance he rarely got last season. The Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle only played 48% of the defensive snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, as he was surrounded by plenty of talented players like Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.

He’ll get a lot more reps under Pats coach Mike Vrabel, who told the former Louisiana Tech man via a team transcript Friday:

"I hope you want to play more than you played in Philadelphia, and 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."

Given the wages he’s on, you’d think Vrabel not only wants to see him on the field often but also owner Robert Kraft. On Thursday, the club signed Williams to a four-year, $104 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in Patriots history regarding annual salary.

In his fourth season with the Eagles in 2024, Williams registered a career-high for sacks (five) and quarterback hits (10) on the best defence in the NFL regarding yards allowed per game (278.4).

Williams was excited to hear Vrabel wanted to play him more because, for him, that means:

"The more opportunity you’ve got to make plays."

The native of Crowley, Texas, was drafted in the third round in 2021, having previously been selected to the First-team All-Conference USA in 2020.

The area Williams will try to address

Getting to opposing quarterbacks was the main thing plaguing the Pats defensively in 2024. This team finished dead last regarding team sacks (28). They have ranked in the bottom 10 in that category in each of the past two campaigns.

Williams hasn’t had many stellar campaigns over his NFL career, registering a combined 11.5 sacks in four seasons, but, hopefully, he learned a lot being surrounded by outstanding players at that position. Now, he can show what he’s made of on a defensive line where he will be the focal point.

He should also have plenty of help in Vrabel, who has a reputation for quickly improving defensive units. During his stint as the Houston Texans linebackers coach, Vrabel’s group ranked third in the league for yards allowed per game in his three seasons.

As the Tennessee Titans' coach, Vrabel took a 13th-ranked defence in 2017 to eighth in 2018, winning two AFC South crowns in six seasons.