Watching the Minnesota Vikings’ interior offensive line get turnstiled regularly down the stretch made fans dream of something better. For months, SKOL Nation put pictures of Trey Smith on their walls, lockers, and desks, coloring his jersey purple and drawing hearts around his face. The gigantic, strong guard they needed was oh-so-close to hitting free agency, where the Vikings could write him a blank check.
And now, he’s off the market after the Kansas City Chiefs franchise-tagged him. Can’t say we blame the Chiefs, but, damn, that throws a wrench into things.
Minnesota enters March with a ton of cap room and a crazy-long list of roster spots they need to fill. They’ll throw around dollars but likely have room for only one true blue-chip, marquee free agent. It’s just a question of who that might be now that the no-brainer candidate in Smith is off the board.
The Vikings can go several ways here. They could target another guard, beef up the secondary, or, heck, even finding another edge rusher wouldn’t be a bad idea. Still, they’d be wise to invest the money (we assume) that was allocated for Smith back into the trenches — just on the other side of the ball.
As they say, the NFL is a copycat league, so why not copy the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles by throwing premier free-agent money at Milton Williams?
There’s no doubt Brian Flores fielded a formidable defense last season, but their biggest weakness was their pass rush. Sure, they got sacks — offensive lines can’t deny Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel forever. Still, their PFF pass-rush grade sat at 24th in the NFL because they couldn’t get consistent pressure from other sources.
It’s no coincidence that their four losses came against Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff, who ranked second and third in the NFL in time to throw, respectively. The defense also struggled mightily in the second half against Jordan Love, who ranked seventh in time to throw, in both of their meetings. If you can get the ball out quickly, you can hurt Minnesota’s defense.
How do you counter that? It’s simple geometry: The quickest way to the quarterback is up the middle.
Williams broke out in a massive way in 2024, as anyone who saw him notch two sacks on Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl might have guessed. As John Boyd noted last month, Williams ranked fifth among NFL defenders in pass-rush win rate. PFF graded him as the top pass-rushing defensive tackle in the NFL. His highlight reel is breathtaking, making even top offensive lines look like… well, Minnesota’s interior.
Managing the salary cap and figuring out the intricacies of contracts is pretty difficult, but the NFL’s basic economics are simple. The three smartest places to invest your money as an NFL team are in your quarterback, the guys who help your quarterback, and the guys responsible for stopping the opposing quarterback. J.J. McCarthy is on a rookie-scale deal, so that’s taken care of. Smith would have fallen into the second category, but he’s unavailable. So taking that Smith money and pouring it into the defensive line is the next-best thing.
It also allows the Vikings greater flexibility at the draft. Without Williams (or a similar move for a premier pass-rushing defensive tackle), Minnesota needs to get one early in the draft — preferably with their first-round pick or the first pick they get after trading down.
Williams removes that pressure entirely. The Vikings won’t have to lose sleep over trading down and missing out on a run of talented interior defenders. They can feel confident addressing their interior offensive line or running back situation, knowing their defensive line is secure. They can invest early picks into the secondary.
Granted, the move isn’t entirely risk-free. Whether the Vikings give Williams a huge payday or someone else does, that new salary will come with the expectation that he’s an every-down defender. That’s not something he had to be in Philadelphia, and his mediocre showings in stopping the run may put more pressure on Minnesota’s linebackers.
It’s also possible that being on a Philadelphia team that was loaded with great pass-rushers like Jalen Carter, Josh Sweat, and Nolan Smith might have made Williams look better than he is. That might lead to him disappointing in markets where he has to be the guy, but that might be more of a feature than a bug in Minnesota. They already have Greenard and Van Ginkel in place, and Dallas Turner should be expected to take a big step in his second year in the Vikings’ defense.
If any offensive line wants to double-team Williams at the expense of having Greenard in a one-on-one matchup … have fun with that.
As with Smith, things could change quickly should the Eagles re-sign* Williams. But for now, he should be circled in purple on the free agency big board in the TCO Performance Center, preferably with hearts around his face.
*An earlier version of this post suggested the Eagles could franchise tag him. We regret the error.
