Vikings Sign Pat Williams

At a time when people are questioning who will be the owner of the Vikings, the team showed it will spend money -- signing defensive tackle Pat Williams today to a three-year deal.

Defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell knows what he likes and, for the second time in 12 months, the Vikings have shown a willingness to shell out money to sign what he likes.

VU has been told the Vikings will announce the signing of Bills free agent defensive tackle Pat Williams to a three-year contract. The deal is for $13 million with incentives that could make the deal worth as much as $15 million. Of that, $6 million is in the form of a signing bonus. It is unclear whether this bonus will be done as a roster bonus -- as was the case with Antoine Winfield last year -- or spread over the three years of the deal.

Williams built a reputation with the Bills for his ability to shed blocks and make plays in the backfield -- the same attributes assigned to his likely interior line mate Kevin Williams. Pat Williams is a seven-year veteran who turned 32 last October.

While the word is good on the Williams front, it now looks much less likely that the Vikings will sign LB Antonio Pierce, who seems to be priced out of what the Vikings were considering spending. The Vikings made an offer but aren't willing to overspend with E.J. Henderson now being flanked by Napolean Harris and with the Williams duo in front of him.