The San Francisco 49ers are not having an easy time getting an agreement on a restructured contract with left tackle Trent Williams.
The Niners and Williams have been in discussions with the goal of lowering his cap hit for the 2026 campaign.
However, Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom reports things are not going smoothly and there remains a lot of work to do. If there is no resolution, the thought around the league is that the end result could be Williams getting traded.
"The original two-year proposal they presented to Williams sent nowhere and while there has been a bit of a thawing out in the sides original stances there was still considerable work to be done to reach a conclusion," La Canfora reported.
"If the sides cannot bridge that gap by the end of the week, some rival executives believe a trade could become the likeliest outcome," La Canfora added.
Williams is up there in age at 37 years old, but he's still very much an elite left tackle.
According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked second in run-blocking grade (92.8) and 12th in pass-blocking grade (79.9) among tackles in 2025.
If the future Hall of Famer does hit the trade block, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers could come calling.
The Steelers have a left tackle in Broderick Jones, but he has been a disappointment over three seasons in the NFL. Making matters worse, Jones suffered a neck injury last season that required fusion surgery and his status is up in the air.
Detroit has a big hole at left tackle after the team released Taylor Decker following the two sides failing to come to terms on a reworked contract. Decker requested a release after the Lions wanted him to take a pay cut.
Even if Detroit moves Penei Sewell over to the left side, that would just open up another hole at right tackle.
In Green Bay, the Packers' starting left tackle from last season, Rasheed Walker, is a free agent and it doesn't look like he'll be back. If not, Green Bay would be forced to rely on an unproven Jordan Morgan to protect Jordan Love's blindside.
While a trade would be costly, both in terms of draft capital and money, we suspect all three of these teams would find a way to make it work considering how huge of an upgrade Williams would be.
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