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.