Williams’ free-agent visit to Patriots ‘just business’
DAVIE — Dolphins running back Damien Williams said his free-agent visit to the New England Patriots earlier this offseason was “weird.”
And that makes sense. Williams has played only for the Dolphins since he was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma. And Williams, frankly, wanted to stay in Miami.
But the NFL is business. As a restricted free agent, Williams had the opportunity to fly to New England and visit with coach Bill Belichick.
“Yeah, I met him,” Williams said earlier this summer. “He’s a cool dude. He’s a cool person. He’s quiet. He’s very observant.”
How could Williams visit New England — of all places?
“It’s just business,” Williams said. “At the end of the day, everybody wants to see what’s out there.”
Williams eventually signed his restricted free-agent tender and will earn about $1.8 million this season.
“This is somewhere I want to be,” Williams said. “Somewhere I’ve devoted all my time to. I love it. I love every guy that I play with and the coaching staff. I love every guy that is in the facility.”
Williams will be Miami’s second or third back, behind Jay Ajayi. He’ll compete with second-year veteran Kenyan Drake for third-down action as well as kick returns and some carries.
“I’m sure I’m going to have a better season than I did last year,” Williams said of earning a potential long-term deal. “So we’ll see where it goes from there.”
The look on the face of Dolphins coach Adam Gase was priceless when he was asked during OTAs last month what went through his mind when Williams — a Gase favorite — told him he was going to visit New England.
“That’s the business,” Gase said. “It is what it is. You never want to lose your guy. He’s a guy that I really love being around. In the building, at practice, he gives you everything he has. And on game days if it’s possible to take it to another level, that’s what he does. And to lose a guy like that would be tough for me, because he energizes so many people on offense, defense and special teams.”
Williams says he’ll be ready if anything happens to Ajayi and he’s prepared to handle any role Gase asks him to fulfill this season.
“Me and coach never stopped talking, from the moment we ended our last game until now,” Williams said. “We always kept in contact. He loved what we are building here. And I love what we are building here. So there was no point in leaving.”