Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles are cashing in on Milton Williams’ improvement, but what will it cost to keep him?

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Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams is third on the team in both pressures and sacks.(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

PHILADELPHIA — This has been a season of welcome news for Milton Williams.

The first bit came during training camp when he was informed that new Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio liked him so much that he wanted to trade for him when he had the same role a season ago with the Miami Dolphins.

The latest good news came Wednesday when a reporter informed the fourth-year defensive tackle that Pro Football Focus had him graded as the fifth best pass rusher in the NFL.

“You say fifth? In the league?” a surprised Williams asked.

Yes, fifth. In the league. The grade is 90.3

The only players ahead of him are Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, Pittsburgh’s Nick Herbig, Dallas’ Micah Parsons and Kansas City’s Chris Jones.

Have you heard of any of them?

The five players behind him are Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson, who leads the NFL in sacks, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Alex Highsmith and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa. Teammate Jalen Carter is graded 12th.

“It’s good to hear that,” Williams said. “I put in a lot of work this offseason and all the way up until this point, so to be up there with guys like that, it makes me feel like it’s paying off.”

It’s paying off for the Eagles in a big way. They lost six-time Pro Bowler Fletcher Cox to retirement in the offseason and they recently lost veteran Brandon Graham to a season-ending injury. But the team’s pass rush is still formidable and Fangio, in his first season with the team, hasn’t had to rely on the blitz to make that happen.

Inside pressure from guys like Williams and Carter is a major reason why.

Carter, who often has to deal with double teams, is second on the Eagles with 48 pressures and 4 ½ sacks. Williams is third on the team with 33 pressures and also third with five sacks. Edge rusher Josh Sweat is the team leader in both categories with 51 pressures and eight sacks.

PFF scores Williams higher than Carter because of his 18.7 pass-rush win percentage, which is the best among the team’s defensive linemen. Carter’s pass-rush win percentage is 12.8, which is sixth among the linemen.

“You just keep growing and growing each year and I feel like this has definitely been my best year,” Williams said.

His timing couldn’t be better.

The Eagles’ third-round pick in 2021 out of Louisiana Tech can be a free agent this offseason. Asked if he has had any talks with the team about an extension, he said “not really.”

It will be fascinating to see how the Eagles and the league value him. The best interior defensive linemen in the game command big money, but Williams is not considered a great run defender.

“Yeah, I think about it, of course,” he said. “Everybody is always telling me you need to do this and that and I just worry about my play on the field. I would love to be here, but if not here then that’s what it’s going to be. I don’t worry about it too much. I try to put on good tape and be productive when I’m out there. We’re on a mission right now — trying to get that ring and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Williams had a long list of people who have helped him get to the point where he is considered among the best defensive tackles in the league.

“A lot of teammates,” he said. “BG (Brandon Graham), of course. Javon Hargrave, Derek Barnett, Clint Hurtt, Jeremiah Washburn, Vic Fangio. All of these guys (taught) me the game when I was young coming in and I just tried to stick to the process of what they told me and are telling me and now just the coaching I’m getting this year is definitely making a difference.”

He is grateful to Fangio for giving him a chance.

“He doesn’t say a lot, but I know that he wanted to get me on the field,” Williams said. “I know when he was coming in people were saying to me that, ‘Yeah, he was trying to trade for me when he was in Miami.’ He was liking me from a distance and now with me being in this defense he has given me the opportunity to play. That’s really all I’ve been asking for. I finally got it and I’m just trying to take advantage of the opportunities.”

Williams is on pace to play more than 500 defensive snaps for the first time in his career. Only Carter has played more among the team’s defensive tackles. He acknowledged that Carter is a special talent who draws a lot of attention, but he also feels as though he has special talent.

“He’s a great player and they’re going to give him that attention, but at the same time I still have to win,” Williams said. “I still got to beat my guy. He doesn’t get the slide (double team) every play. I get the slide sometimes, but if they’re going to pay that attention to him the way they do then I have to pride myself on winning one on ones. If I don’t win then I won’t be in the game. Period.”

Carter also believes Hurtt, in his first season as the defensive line coach, has helped him elevate his game.

“Oh, man, he is just so smart,” Williams said. “With him being a DC (defensive coordinator), he’s just teaching us a lot more football. What teams like to do. He’ll say, ‘I know this coach over here, this is what he likes to do’ and he’ll say, ‘That coach, this is how he’s going to attack us.’  He’s just so technical with his teaching. He’s real hands on. I think he just took us up a step as far as IQ and knowing what to do and how to do it.”

Williams said Graham has taught him about “just everything” from “being a player, being a man and just being a hard worker.”

Hargrave has a special place in Williams’ heart despite the fact he left after the 2022 season to sign a lucrative contract with the 49ers. Williams said he still talks often with Hargrave.

“When I came in (as a rookie) I sat right next to him in meetings and I was just a sponge,” Williams said. “He was a small-school guy too. I think he went to an HBCU (South Carolina State), so we kind of related in that sense. He just told me to work, work and don’t let them tell you what you can’t do. You know just try to dominate your matchup and always have that chip on your shoulder because you didn’t come from a big school and you didn’t have that higher level of competition. Wear that every day and take it on the field with you.”

Four years into his career and playing a bigger role than ever, Williams has reached the point where he can offer some advice of his own. He said he did exactly that after Carter was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Steelers.

“I just told him he’s got a big name and everybody is going to be watching him at all times,” Williams said. “I just told him he’s got to be careful because any little thing that he does they’re going to magnify it. I just try to keep letting him know that he has eyes on him wherever he’s at and whatever he’s doing, so just try to be smart and just try to make sure you don’t hurt the team.

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