Milton Williams was a key free agency signing for the Patriots, who are looking to re-establish their identity under Mike Vrabel.
But New England was very close to missing out on the Super Bowl champion defensive tackle. The Carolina Panthers pushed hard to acquire Williams, and a report even prematurely surfaced that terms were agreed upon.
While that, of course, turned out to be untrue, Williams explained on NFL Network’s “The Insiders” that he was indeed prepared to sign with Carolina.
“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’,” Williams said.