Possible Vikings FA target Milton Williams bumps up price tag in Super Bowl

Milton Williams not only helped his team win Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, he also made himself some money on his next contract.

Williams, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle who makes a lot of sense as a Vikings free agent target next month, had two of his defense’s six sacks on Patrick Mahomes in the Eagles’ dominant 40-22 victory. That’s a pretty good way to make a sales pitch heading into free agency.

Fans who may not have known much about Williams — who has been overshadowed by Jalen Carter at his position — learned quite a bit on Sunday. The former third-round pick out of Louisiana Tech had PFF’s No. 2 pass-rushing grade among DTs this season, behind only Chris Jones, and that skill set was on full display at the Superdome.

Midway through the second quarter, Williams got past Chiefs left tackle Joe Thuney, then turned back toward the line of scrimmage in pursuit of Mahomes and took him down.

Then, in the fourth quarter, with his team leading 37-6, Williams made an even more impressive play. He bull-rushed left guard Mike Caliendo, bent around the edge, and strip-sacked Mahomes. To make it even sweeter, Williams recovered the fumble and got to go celebrate in the end zone.

Those are the kind of impact pass-rushing plays every team would love to have from their defensive tackles. It’s exactly what the Vikings are missing. They’ve got great edge rushers, but they got very little pass rush from their interior linemen this season. And that’s been a theme for a while. Since Kevin Williams’ prime in the late 2000s, the best pass-rushing three-techniques the Vikings have employed were Tom Johnson and Sheldon Richardson in the Mike Zimmer era.

If the Vikings want Milton Williams, they’ll have to pay up for his services. Spotrac has him projected for a three-year, $36 million deal, but that estimate can be completely ripped up. He’s going to make more like $20 million per year on the open market. And even at that price point, I think it’s still very much worth it for Minnesota. He’s a rare athlete and game-wrecker who turns 26 next month and might only be getting better.

Whether or not they get Williams, the Vikings need to aim higher than the Jihad Ward/Jerry Tillery tier of free agent defensive tackles this year, with all due respect to those two players. They need a real difference-making pass rusher in the middle of their line.