Trent Williams opted to re-sign with the 49ers, doing so on a record-setting agreement for an offensive lineman. However, the veteran left tackle said Tuesday he felt a Chiefs agreement was “imminent,” via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner (on Twitter).
The Chiefs were in talks with Williams, who said those discussions reached a point that had him believing he was on track to join the two-time reigning AFC champions. However, Williams placed a call to Kyle Shanahan to relay where his negotiations with the Chiefs stood, and the 49ers later finalized a deal to retain their 2020 trade acquisition.
Signed to a six-year, $138.1MM deal, Williams said he had promised Shanahan he would keep him in the loop on his negotiations. That pledge led to the 49ers giving Williams his long-sought-after third NFL contract. It came in much higher than his second NFL deal — a five-year, $68MM pact in 2015.
Taking over for 13-year starter Joe Staley, Williams made his eighth Pro Bowl last season. The lineman recently told ESPN’s Nick Wagoner (Twitter link) that he believes he can play until he’s 40, and the player “has something to prove” as he looks to play out his six-year pact.
Kansas City was prepared to authorize two monster O-line contracts, having already received a commitment from former New England guard Joe Thuney on a five-year, $80MM accord, but the Chiefs are still in need at left tackle. The team released eight-year starter Eric Fisher earlier this month, with All-Pro right tackle Mitchell Schwartz joining him as a cap casualty. The Chiefs have since re-signed Mike Remmers, their left tackle from Super Bowl LV, and he may have a clearer-than-expected path to becoming Schwartz’s replacement on the right side. While it should not be considered a certainty Remmers will start at right tackle, the team does not have a surefire left tackle starter at this point.
This near-agreement is similar to the Chiefs’ pursuit of Earl Thomas in 2019. The perennial Pro Bowl safety indicated he was all set to sign with the Chiefs on a one-year deal, but the Ravens swooped in at the 11th hour with a better offer.
That’s a whole lotta money for a 30+ year old lineman that missed a season due to cancer.
And who was the highest rated tackle in the league last year. And I’d be concerned if he lost a season due to a blown acl, not a tumor cut off his head that by all accounts is completely gone
And should have been dealt with sooner but somehow the Washington medical staff didn’t notice it and he had to go to a private doctor to handle it.
Watching Washington screw up that entire situation epitomizes that team. Literally let the top LT in the game go because your medical staff is incompetent…..
I’m curious how the chiefs would have been able to pay top market LT money after committing record setting guard money. As their also set to be paying a record QB contract and top or near contracts for their TE, WR, safety, edge and DT. Seems odd they could possibly afford all these.
Um … apparently you don’t read everything here … Mahomes, Kelce and Jones redid their contracts to clear a ton of cap space.
They did for this year but the future years would have been harder to keep all those mega contracts. The Chiefs already have 130 million in their top 5 contracts for 2022 and 175 million for the whole roster of 23 players. The 49ers have a better cap situation as they don’t have as many mega contracts right now. Jimmy G is all but gone after this year at the latest so that big cap hit will be gone next year. Also, I doubt Williams plays out that deal. 3 years and you can release him and only have half the cap hit.
Um … my bad statefarm I should have known. It’s not like Mahomes, Kelce, and Jones signed their deals in the past year or anything.
I apologize I wasn’t totally up to date on the chiefs cap situation.
FYI you didn’t address the other players I mentioned either. Clark, mathieu & hill are accounting for over 61 mil. Even with the restructures they were projected to have less than 20 mil in cap space before accounting for the draft class … and I also meant how they could afford everyone in the future as well …
The future is where they’re going to really struggle cap wise…You will start to see them losing more and more depth as the years pass, so they’re going to have to hit on the majority of their draft picks if they want to maintain their phenomenal run. However, with Kelce, Mahomes, Tyreek, and then Exwards-Heliare, their offense should stay top notch regardless..That’s just as long as they can keep a decent OL..Their offense alone should get them plenty far, but it’ll come down to their OL and maintaining a decent enough defense if they’re going to continue winning SBs…
FYI the cap is about to take a big jump due to the new TV contract that starts in 2022
Not signing Thomas worked out very favorably.
Much like the real estate market the market for left guards has not hiccuped in the face of a yearlong pandemic