Even at his age, Trent Williams remains a potentially crucial player for the San Francisco 49ers going forward.
They don't make many left tackles like Williams. For the good of Brock Purdy and the entire 49ers' offense, they've got to get a contract worked out with the guy protecting the blind side.
It hasn't happened yet, though, and ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote in a new article Wednesday that figuring it out will be the most important thing the 49ers do the rest of this offseason.
"If the Niners don't have Williams, either through his retirement, a holdout or a departure from the organization, things would suddenly look very bleak at left tackle," Barnwell writes.
There is a solution here, though, which Barnwell then laid out in his new article.
"The 49ers likely want to pay Williams something closer to the $21.9 million he made in 2025, which would make sense," Barnwell writes. "Finding common ground on a deal that guarantees Williams $25 million in 2026 and $30 million in 2027 would be smart for a team that doesn't have a replacement for the 12-time Pro Bowler. And while Williams might want to become the highest-paid tackle in league history one more time and top Rashawn Slater's $28.5 million average salary, there isn't really a market to pay him that sort of deal in free agency right now."
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And if there are 49ers fans wondering whether Williams is really worth it, this is part of what Barnwell had to say about who Williams is as a player:
"There's no like-for-like replacement for Williams that the 49ers can add to this roster, and if (Taylor) Decker signs somewhere else, coach Kyle Shanahan will be looking at a potential disaster up front. The 49ers don't typically place a premium on elite offensive line play in the way that other teams do, but there's a reason they traded for Williams and then made him the highest-paid lineman in league history to keep him away from the Chiefs a few years ago. He's different."
When a player is "different" in the way that Williams is, letting him get away can prove very costly.
The 49ers still have some time to make this happen, and it'll be worthwhile for them to find a full solution.
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