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Trent Williams

Latest On 49ers’ Trent Williams, Deebo Samuel

January 25th, 2022 at 8:56am CST by Adam La Rose

There was cause for concern for the 49ers after their upset win over the Packers on Saturday. Left tackle Trent Williams suffered an ankle injury in the game, and was seen on crutches afterward. 

However, head coach Kyle Shanahan provided an encouraging update on Monday. He said that X-rays on the ankle came back negative, and that he’ll be “managed during practice” throughout the week. He admitted, though, that the 33-year-old’s availability for Sunday’s NFC Championship game is uncertain at this point.

Williams was a question mark to play in the team’s Wild Card win over the Cowboys due to an elbow injury suffered in Week 17. He sat out the regular season finale – which would have ended San Francisco’s season if not for a come-from-behind victory over their next opponent, the Rams – but was able to start once again for both playoff games. The nine-time Pro Bowler has continued to play at an elite level in his second season with the 49ers, an encouraging sign give that he is under contract with the team for another five years after this.

Shanahan also provided an update on Deebo Samuel. He said the hybrid receiver/running back took a helmet to the knee during Saturday’s game, but that he “should be at practice” tomorrow. Especially if Williams were able to suit up, the undisputed catalyst of the 49ers’ offense would once again play a major role in trying to help the team reach a second Super Bowl in the past three years.

49ers’ Trent Williams Intends To Play Sunday

January 14th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Adam La Rose

When the 49ers take the field on Wild Card Weekend, they could have their star left tackle back in action. Trent Williams revealed that his elbow injury will not require surgery, and that he intends to play on Sunday against the Cowboys (Twitter link via The San Jose Time’s Cam Innman). 

Williams suffered the injury early on during the 49ers’ win over the Texans in Week 17. He continued playing, however, stating that “I gritted through it and paid the price later”. The injury kept him out of the regular season finale against the Rams, in which the 49ers erased a 17-0 deficit to ultimately win in overtime and clinch the NFC’s final playoff berth. The nine-time Pro Bowler added that he was not a fan of using a brace to support the elbow, which is feeling much better than it was last week, and is now attempting to use tape instead.

The 33-year-old ended up playing in 15 games this year, his second in San Francisco. Still one of the best left tackles in the league, he signed a six year, $138MM extension last offseason to stay in the Bay Area that will keep him under contract until he is 38. Just like this past season, his 2022 base salary of $7.25MM is fully guaranteed, and his cap hit will jump to $14.12MM. Regardless of his availability for Sunday, then, he should be rehabbed and back at full strength by the beginning of next season at a minimum.

49ers To Start Jimmy Garoppolo In Week 7

October 22nd, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jimmy Garoppolo will return to a starting role for the 49ers this week. The fifth-year 49er is off the team’s injury report and good to go for Sunday night’s game against the Colts.

Trey Lance will not suit up due to the knee sprain he sustained in Week 5. San Francisco’s bye week allowed Garoppolo to recover in time to become the rare incumbent to recapture his job from a rookie-year first-rounder. Though these situations usually end with the younger talent taking over for good, Kyle Shanahan said Garoppolo would keep his job when healthy.

A high ankle sprain felled Garoppolo midway through last season, and he did not return. This year’s calf ailment proved to be milder, and Garoppolo will come back after missing just one game. The 30-year-old veteran — after being mentioned in trades during the offseason and viewed as a lame duck after the 49ers traded two future first-rounders for Lance — will have an interesting opportunity to submit a case he remains the best option for the 49ers to reach their 2021 ceiling.

Garoppolo is unlikely to have his top offensive lineman available, however. The 49ers declared Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams doubtful for Week 7 due to ankle and elbow injuries.

Trent Williams: Chiefs Deal Felt ‘Imminent’

March 23rd, 2021 at 5:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.

Chiefs Were Close To Signing OL Trent Williams

March 17th, 2021 at 6:14pm CST by Ben Levine

Trent Williams was *this* close to signing with Kansas City before he signed his massive deal with the 49ers. Matt Barrows of the Athletic tweets that the Chiefs “were the runners up in the Trent Williams negotiations,” noting that the veteran was very close to signing with the defending AFC champions.

This is a fine consolation for the Chiefs front office considering the giant contract that Williams ultimately got from San Francisco. The eight-time Pro Bowler inked a six-year, $138.06MM deal with the 49ers, including $55.1MM guaranteed and a $30.1MM signing bonus. The contract made Williams the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league.

The 32-year-old blocker graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall offensive tackle in 2020 despite sitting out the entire 2019 campaign. The 32-year-old was widely regarded as the best available free agent in this year’s class, regardless of position.

The Chiefs are committed to revamping Patrick Mahomes‘ offensive line this offseason. While they may have struck out with Williams, they’ve managed to still add some reinforcement. The team inked Joe Thuney to a five-year deal, and we learned earlier today that the team had signed Kyle Long out of retirement.

49ers Re-Sign Trent Williams To Six-Year, $138MM Deal

March 17th, 2021 at 8:39am CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers have re-signed Trent Williams to a six-year, $138.06MM deal (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The deal comes with $55.1MM guaranteed and a $30.1MM signing bonus and makes Williams the highest-paid offensive lineman. 

The Chiefs, Colts, and Bears all wanted Williams, but the incumbents won out. There were, at least, consolation prizes for the Chiefs and Bears — Kansas City landed top guard Joe Thuney while the Bears allocated their dollars towards quarterback Andy Dalton and a new deal for (not-as-impressive) tackle Germain Ifedi.

The 32-year-old blocker graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall tackle last year after sitting out the entire 2019 season. He’ll turn 33 in July, but he was widely regarded as the best available free agent in this year’s class, regardless of position.

The current rate for top offensive tackles is around $22MM per year. Despite his age, Williams has topped that with an average annual value of $23MM. Previously, the watermark was held by Packers lineman David Bakhtiari, who inked a four-year, $92 million extension back in November. He could have gotten those dollars anywhere, but Williams has said all along that he’d like to play out the rest of his career in San Francisco.

“San Francisco would be the leading candidate regardless,” Williams said earlier this year. “So even if it does make it to free agency, it won’t be because I’m trying to go somewhere else. It may be simply because I want to see my value. It’s been 11 years in this league, and I have yet to see a franchise left tackle go to the open market. I think it would be interesting to kind of see what [my] value holds.”

Williams’ value is mostly predicated on his world-class performance, but it was also lifted by the lack of quality offensive linemen available in this year’s class. Rather than reaching for subpar protection, the Niners shelled out the big bucks for one of the best tackles in the business.

Latest On Trent Williams’ Market

March 16th, 2021 at 7:28pm CST by Rory Parks

As expected, the market for free agent left tackle Trent Williams is very strong. Per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Chiefs, Colts, Bears, and incumbent 49ers are all in the running (Twitter link). However, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune is hearing that Williams will not be heading to the Windy City (Twitter link).

We heard several days ago that San Francisco has been pushing to retain Williams, but the 32-year-old blocker sounded as if he wanted to see what the open market had in store. And he is probably happy he made that decision, because according to La Canfora, some GMs believe Williams could earn a $23MM/year deal, which would be right at the top of the LT market in terms of average annual value.

Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Chicago all qualified for the postseason in 2020, and though KC came up just a bit short in the Super Bowl, they did sign the top guard on the market, Joe Thuney. Adding Williams to Patrick Mahomes‘ offensive front would make the Chiefs an even tougher matchup than they already are.

The prospect of playing for the Chiefs’ high-flying offense could be quite appealing for Williams, who wasted away in Washington for most of his career and failed to reach the playoffs with the 49ers in 2020. Of course, Kansas City also has the best QB situation of the interested teams, as the Colts will trot out Carson Wentz, the Bears might be rolling with Andy Dalton, and the 49ers may or may not trade Jimmy Garoppolo.

After sitting out the entire 2019 season, Williams graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall tackle last year.

49ers Want To Retain OL Trent Williams

March 13th, 2021 at 11:27am CST by Ben Levine

Earlier this week, offensive tackle Trent Williams hinted that he’d be interested in sticking with the 49ers. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (on Twitter), the 49ers are hoping that’s the case, as the organization is making a push to sign the veteran before the start of the league year on March 17.

Per Garafolo, the 49ers front office has made “strong offers” to Williams’ camp, and the organization is “hopeful” that they can get a deal done at some point next week. However, Garafolo warns that Williams won’t be taking any kind of discount to stay in San Francisco. While the offensive tackle apparently enjoyed his stint with the 49ers, he also “wants to see his value” reflected on his next contract. As Garafolo notes, Williams’ desire for a lucrative long-term pact was part of the reason why the lineman required a provision in his contract that stated that he couldn’t be slapped with the franchise tag.

Williams had a strong comeback campaign in 2020. After sitting out the entire 2019 season, Williams graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall tackle this past year. The current rate for top offensive tackles is around $22MM per year. At 32 years old, Williams may not be able to command that kind of AAV, but he should easily be able to secure a deal that pays him north of $18MM.

During a recent appearance on the Cris Collinsworth Podcast, Richard Sherman predicted Williams would stay with the 49ers and indicated he would play several more seasons. Also on the podcast, Williams replied (via NFL.com), “That’s not a bad take, fellas. Y’all barking up the right tree.”

Trent Williams Eyeing 49ers Return?

March 10th, 2021 at 7:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

Due to an agreement reached last summer, the 49ers were not permitted to retain Trent Williams via the franchise tag. They have five days left to negotiate exclusively with the Pro Bowl left tackle, whom they acquired via trade last year.

San Francisco has more than $23MM in cap space — the 12th-most as of Wednesday night, though teams will continue to create funds ahead of the March 17 start to the new league year — and Williams launched a successful reboot to his career with the team last season. Williams and Kyle Shanahan also have a history going back to the latter’s OC days in Washington, and the eight-time Pro Bowler may not want to play for a third team.

During an appearance on the Cris Collinsworth Podcast, Richard Sherman predicted Williams would stay with the 49ers and indicated he would play several more seasons. Also on the podcast, Williams replied (via NFL.com), “That’s not a bad take, fellas. Y’all barking up the right tree.”

Although Williams will turn 33 this offseason, he will command a high-end left tackle salary. Considering Williams has never hit free agency before, it would not be surprising to see him hold off on a 49ers extension and let them vie for his services against other teams in free agency.

With Laremy Tunsil and David Bakhtiari raising the tackle market to beyond the $22MM-per-year point, Williams’ next deal may not come in too far below those younger blockers’. That will put the 49ers to a decision. They traded third- and fifth-round picks to acquire Williams last year and saw the deal work out quite well, even though their season did not go smoothly. After sitting out the 2019 season, Williams graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall tackle in 2020.

Williams exiting the Bay Area would create a major need for a 49ers team that had avoided such issues for much of this century. Joe Staley held down San Francisco’s left tackle job from 2007-19, and on the same day his retirement decision surfaced, the 49ers traded for Williams. The 49ers would check off a key item from their offseason to-do list by retaining him.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/1/21

January 1st, 2021 at 5:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the minor moves from New Year’s Day:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: WR John Brown

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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