Pat Williams: ‘I am not coming back’

Vikings nose tackle Pat Williams said he is not going to return to the Vikings, although he wants to play two more years in the NFL. He said the trust is eroding.

Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams said in a text message Wednesday that he is not going to return to the Vikings in 2011.

“Everything’s good. I am not coming back. Going to go finish elsewhere,” the three-time Pro Bowler said in a text message to Viking Update.

The revelation isn’t too much of a surprise. Last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said the Vikings were looking to get younger on the defensive line.

"We are going to try to upgrade our defensive line. It may be through the draft, it may be through free agency,” Frazier said in Indianapolis. “That's a scenario where we want to do some things that can really help our defensive line. We're aging at one of the spots. We need to do some things to improve. One of the mantras has been being good against the run, stopping the run. We've kind of slipped a little bit so we have to take a look at some things and see what we have to do to improve in that area."

Frazier was later asked to confirm if he was referring to Pat Williams and said he didn’t call out anyone by name. However …

“We need to just look at the fact that we are getting a little bit older. So we’ve got some depth on the line,” Frazier said. “We still have Fred Evans, although he’s a free agent. We still have Letroy (Guion), who we think has a chance. We’ve still got Jimmy Kennedy, who is on the roster as well. So we’ve got to get some young guys going. Some day Pat is going to retire and somebody’s got to be able to step into that role. He’s been a great, great player for us for a number of years. But we need a young guy to step up and we’ve got to determine whether that’s Letroy or whether that’s Fred or whether we’ve got to draft someone.”

Williams, a 14-year veteran of the league, is 38 years old and will be an unrestricted free agent when a new collective bargaining agreement is reached and a new league year begins.

While Williams and Frazier appear to have a good relationship, Williams indicated his trust with some in the organization is eroding.

“Just don’t trust everybody over there no more,” he said in a text. “I feel if I got your back and you don’t got my back, trust (is) gone. I play hard all the time, even (when) things (weren’t) good all the time. I never quit on them, but I am always happy and blessed and I wish them the best.”

Asked to clarify, Williams said he wasn’t referring to Frazier.

“I trust Frazier. He can only do so much. It’s that other part of the job,” Williams texted. “I’d played for him any day.”

Williams signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2005 after spending the first eight years of his career with the Buffalo Bills. He was named to the Pro Bowl following the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons and helped lead the Vikings to the No. 1 rush defense an NFL modern-day record three consecutive years – in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2009, the Vikings ranked second against the run, but in 2010 they dropped to ninth in the league.

Williams is still looking to catch on with another team in the NFL.

“I am just going to play two more (years) and go home and enjoy my kids,” he said.

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Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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