Inside the Milton Williams deal

In most forms of American business, a contract consists of a mutual, two-way commitment. One side is bound to the other side for a specific period of time, and the other side has the same obligation.

For the NFL, it doesn't work that way.

Teams can rip up contracts whenever they want. Players can't. Teams can trade player contracts whenever they want. Players at best can block a trade (if they negotiate a no-trade clause); they can never make one happen.

The only security for players comes from financial terms that provide guaranteed payments and/or impractical cap consequences.

When evaluating the major deals in free agency, then, the challenge is to pierce through the reported (parroted) numbers and to get to the truth.

Take the new contract that, as of Wednesday, will be signed by defensive tackle Milton Williams with the Patriots. It was reported as a four-year, $104 million deal. The Patriots can hold Williams to that. As a practical matter, however, the Patriots are bound to the contract for two years.

Here's the breakdown, per a source with knowledge of the terms:

1. Signing bonus: $24 million.

2. 2025 offseason workout bonus: $300,000.

3. 2025 base salary: $6 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2025 per-game active roster bonus: up to $1.7 million; $100,000 per game.

5. 2026 offseason workout bonus: $300,000.

6. 2026 base salary: $21 million, fully guaranteed.

7. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: up to $1.7 million total; $100,00 per game.

8. 2027 offseason workout bonus: $450,000.

9. 2027 base salary: $21 million, $12 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing and becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year.

10. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: up to $2.55 million total; $150,000 per game.

11. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $450,000.

12. 2028 base salary: $22 million.

13, 2028 per-game active roster bonus: up to $2.55 million total; $150,000 per game.

It works out to a full guarantee at signing of $51 million, with another $12 million in 2027 injury guarantees that flip to full guarantees in 2027.

That amounts to a two-year commitment by the Patriots, with $51 million plus another $3.4 million in per-game roster bonuses and $600,000 in workout bonuses. He can make up to $55 million through 2026.

After that, the Patriots have the option to continue the deal for 2027, and again for 2028. In reality, it's a two-year deal with a pair of one-year team options.

The per-game roster bonuses are very high. $100,000 per game for the first two years, and $150,000 per game for the final two.

In all, Williams has $8.5 million tied to his availability to play. While he has missed only one game in four years, he's tying plenty of cash to his ability to play over the next four. (The only higher total for per-game roster bonuses was in the three-year deal that Za'Darius Smith signed in 2022 with the Vikings. At $3 million per year, the contract had $9 million in per-game roster bonuses.)

The reality is that the $8.5 million gets treated as part of the base package, even though it's impacted directly by any injury or other circumstance that would keep him from playing in any/every given week.

It's a prime example of how the listed and reported APY can be misleading. Williams's $26 million per year is more like $23.5 million per year, since the other $2.5 million per year (on average) comes from a total of $10 million in workout bonuses and per-game roster bonuses.

That doesn't make it a bad deal. But of the total $104 million over four years, the Patriots have firmly committed to less than half. To get it all, Williams has to: (1) show up for the minimum number of offseason workouts for all four years (the minimum percentage is usually high); (2) be available for all 68 regular-season games; (3) play well enough in 2025 and 2026 to persuade the Patriots to continue the relationship in 2027; and (4) play well enough in 2027 to persuade the Patriots to continue the relationship in 2028.