PHILADELPHIA — When players in a contract year are asked about their contracts, they typically shy away from that topic. Josh Sweat and Milton Williams had something to say about their deals, even if there wasn’t much to tell.
Sweat and Williams are both in the final year of their deals. Williams (25) is in the final year of his rookie deal and Sweat (27) is in the final year of a restructured contract. Both are valuable pieces to the Eagles defensive line, and have been for several seasons.
Are the Eagles working towards keeping them?
“I heard about it earlier on, but that ain’t my main focus right now,” Williams said on a possible extension. “I ain’t got too many details.”
Williams has been a valuable depth piece on the Eagles defensive line since his rookie season in 2021, having the ability to rotate on the edge and defensive tackle. He notched a career-high 22 pressures land seven quarterback hits last season, yet only ended up with 0.5 sacks. The pressure rate just didn’t match up to the sack total.
This season is a big one for Williams, and he knows it.
“You know what time it is,” Williams said. “I’m going to go out there and show what I can do. I just want to be productive when they call my number. Whatever they need me to do, I’m going to bust my ass to get it done.”
Sweat is in a different position than Williams. He signed a contract extension in 2021, which was restructured this past offseason to give him guaranteed money. Sweat reduced his salary by $6 million, but received $9.5 million in guaranteed salary as a result. That also created a void year in 2025, allowing Sweat to become a free agent.
An extension will save the Eagles a boatload of cap space in the future. Sweat’s future was in doubt this past March, but the Eagles reworked his contract and moved on from Haason Reddick after they signed Bryce Huff early in free agency.
“I let my agent handle that with those guys. I just want to play,” Sweat said. “I didn’t even really think about it in the offseason. I just approached the same way, just to get better.
“I really didn’t think about it. Just wanted to get it right and come back and play and focus on what I need to focus on.”
Sweat is aware how crucial this season is for him towards his future. He notched a career-high 68 pressures last season, but his sack total dipped from 11.0 in 2022 to 6.5 in 2023. His pressure rate stayed the same at 12.7%.
So where did things go wrong for Sweat? He didn’t have any sacks and a 10.3% pressure rate from Week 13 through 18 last season (when the Eagles lost five of six to close the regular season). In the year prior, Sweat had 6.5 sacks from Weeks 13-18 with a 12.6% pressure rate. He had 4.0 sacks with a 15.8% pressure rate in 2021.
“It didn’t go my way,” Sweat said. “Everything has to fall together. You just have to keep coming every play, but you don’t know when it’s going to happen. You just have to go hard, you never know when it’s going to come your way.”
Both Williams and Sweat know how vital 2024 is toward their future with the Eagles. Contracts aside, they know it’s time to perform.
“I still feel young as hell,” Sweat said. “Time flew, but I’m ready to have my best season yet. I feel good.”
