Trent Williams did well to secure strong terms via a reworking completed just days before the season. The perennial All-Pro tackle will not be back to close out Year 1 of this revised agreement.
Kyle Shanahan announced Monday (via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner) that his future Hall of Fame blindside blocker will not return from injury this season. Considering the 49ers have been eliminated, this is not especially surprising. Williams, who has been rehabbing an ankle injury, has not played since Week 11. Shanahan had said last week (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport) Williams would need to be close to healthy to come back this year, and he is not yet at that point. Two years remain on Williams’ contract.
This marks the second straight year in which Williams has missed multiple games due to injury. The 49ers went 0-2 in those contests last season; they are 1-4 without Williams this year. Though, San Francisco has seen other valuable cogs miss time during this disastrous stretch as well. The team sits 6-9 as another woeful NFC title defense winds down.
Williams, 36, has not made reference to a 2025 retirement yet. After securing a wave of guarantees midway through his six-year contract, it would represent a modest surprise if the former top-five pick walked away after this season.
Ending a lengthy holdout via the summer adjustment, the 49ers have moved all but $1.26MM of Williams’ 2025 base salary into void years and option bonuses. He received a $25.69MM signing bonus upon inking his updated deal in September and will not be moved in 2025, as such a move would be punitive for the 49ers, who would take on $55MM-plus in dead money by doing so. Although Williams is wrapping his age-36 season, he has remained one of the best linemen in football. San Francisco would benefit by having him back for what would be a 16th NFL season come 2025.
Williams came back this season in a partial effort to set the tackle record for Pro Bowl nods. He is sitting on 11 going into this year’s unveiling; Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz, Jonathan Ogden and Willie Roaf join him at that number. Pro Football Focus slotted Williams seventh overall among tackles this season, a slight drop-off from his usual place, but ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranks him first. It would not surprise to see Williams, despite missing five games, to be selected to his 12th Pro Bowl soon.
The lucrative contract the 49ers gave to Williams has influenced their decision-making up front. The team has a midlevel deal at center (Jake Brendel) and a lower-end contract at right tackle (Colton McKivitz) and rookie pacts at guard (Aaron Banks, Dominick Puni). San Francisco is unlikely to re-sign Banks, and Williams’ contract should be expected to shape the team’s contractual blueprint — especially with Brock Purdy still on track to be paid in 2025 — with regards to its O-line. Williams announcing he is coming back would all but confirm this approach.
So they’re out of playoff contention and he quits on his team with 2 games left. Not even gonna try to play this year. Overpaid bum
They probably don’t want a 36-year old risking a serious injury by rushing back to a lost season.
So only certain ppl are allowed to quit. Interesting
It makes less sense for players on eliminated teams to rush back from injuries, yes. It’s riskier for the oldest offensive lineman in football to hurry recovery, yes. This is all common sense.
Sure. It’s also funny 49ers made a spectacle about nobody quits and literally a week later they publicly announce supporting Trent Williams quitting on returning this season with games left. Comedy writes itself.
Refusing to enter a game as an active player is extremely different than not playing because you’re hurt.
Refusing to risk injury for a team that treats you like a scapegoat demoting you to 3rd string while others playing poorly aren’t demoted isn’t much different than Williams not returning this season cause he/49ers don’t want to risk injury..
Both refuse to risk injury
Both quit on games this year
Like I said apparently certain people are allowed to quit. Which makes the whole hoop la about nobody quits really funny in retrospect. It was already funny listening to Charvarius Ward who’s 53 pff grade is bottom of the league talk about Campbell despite 49ers refusing to bench Ward demote him to 3rd string due to crappy play this year (special treatment again).
Think we found De’Vondre’s burner.
I wish. I’m just a janitor at MIT solving complex mathematical equations revolutionizing the world but stuck plunging toilets. I write my solutions in feces.
Common sense based on his last 2 years would have been somehow for the 49ers to get out of that bloated contract….
Drafting Lance
Paying aiyuk after paying Jennings
Williams contract
49ers can’t get out of their own way
Williams is the best left tackle in football when healthy. They were screwed without him.
Favoritism is a locker room killer. You can’t play favorites and give people special treatment amongst your players. You either hold people to a similar standard or you lose players and locker room. Shanahan completely lost the locker room this year.
He lost half a dozen of his best players to injury.
So did Detroit. Dallas. Texans. What’s your point? Dan Campbells locker room respects him. 49ers locker room doesn’t respect shanahan. Proof is in the pudding.
Not that I want to jump into your back and forth with Butker but …..The key phrase in your comment is “when healthy”….he hasn’t played a full season since 2013-14….yet he’s being paid for a full season….his inability to play a full slate means that both the Redskins, all those “All Pro” accolades….how does one get that award when playing 50% of the games for his team…..would a baseball player get the MVP award and/or make the All Star team if he played 80-90 games a year?
They should shut down Warner and his broken ankle next. Down to 5th string running back, all backup level lineman besides puni. Time to pack it in and get a top tackle in the draft, and trade up for best center with all the complement of picks