Patriots Steal Cardinals Top Free Agent

The Arizona Cardinals couldn't get a big fish out of the free agency pool.

Dec 1, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams (93) celebrates as Baltimore Ravens place kicker Justin Tucker (9) reacts to missing a second half field goal at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

An interesting early morning saga in free agency did not play out in the Arizona Cardinals' favor.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the New England Patriots swooped in last minute and have won the Milton Williams sweepstakes, paying him $26 million per season, far surpassing expectations for his deal.

The Carolina Panthers were first believed to be signing Williams this morning before the deal fell apart. The Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings were also reportedly in the mix.

Williams was the top defensive lineman hitting the open market and would have filled a massive need for the Cardinals up front, as Arizona desperately is in search of true game wrecker at the position.

The connection with Cardinals staff such as head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis drew plenty of interest to see if Arizona would land Williams.

Williams was set to gain a massive payday on the open market, one the Cardinals could have given him with over $70 million in spending power entering the weekend.

Arizona now could look at other alternatives such as Jonathan Allen. BJ Hill re-signed with the Bengals, so that's another option off the board.

The Cardinals doubled their win total from 2023 to 2024, and with plenty of cap space, Arizona was projected by many to be big spenders in order to catapult their chances of making the postseason next year.

As of now, the Cardinals have re-signed players such as Kelvin Beachum, Evan Brown, Joey Blount, Aaron Brewer and Baron Browning.

Is Arizona being cautious in their approach in spending?

"It's just one of those things where you also have to be smart about it. You don't want to spend to spend either. You have to make the right decisions. If you historically look back and see teams that won the off-season or teams that won free agency... going back and looking at 2020, is that always the case, six, nine, or 12 months later? I don't know," said Ossenfort at the Combine.

"Free agency is a great roster-building tool. We're right here on the cusp of the two biggest roster-building opportunities for us in free agency followed by the draft. We're going to be active in both of them. We're going to make smart decisions and things that we think are the right fit for our team, both the person, the makeup, and then also schematically, who can help us the most."

Not getting Williams was a major miss by the Cardinals.