49ers give record deal to Williams: $138 million
One year and one day after the 49ers didn’t keep an elite and durable lineman who was a team captain because he was deemed too expensive, history didn’t repeat itself.
The 49ers, who declined to pony up for AllPro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in 2020, opened their vault to keep Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams on Wednesday.
The 49ers signed Williams, 32, to a sixyear, $138.06 million contract with $55.1 million guaranteed that made him the highestpaid offensive lineman in NFL history, his agency, Elite Loyalty Sports, announced early Wednesday morning. Williams received a $30.1 million signing bonus, another league record for a player at his position.
Williams’ average annual
salary ($23.01 million) eclipses, by $6,000, that of Green Bay left tackle David Bakhtiari ($23 million), who had been the NFL’s highestpaid offensive lineman.
Yes, on St. Patrick’s Day, Williams saw plenty of green.
The contract came 366 days after the 49ers, citing finances, traded Buckner to the Colts for a firstround pick. Buckner then signed a fouryear, $84 million deal with Indianapolis that made him the NFL’s secondhighestpaid interior defensive lineman.
A year later, the 49ers added two decorated linemen instead of shedding one: They also signed Atlanta center Alex Mack, 35, a Cal alum and sixtime Pro Bowl selection, to a oneyear, $5.5 million deal, NFL Network reported.
The 49ers would have been far more comfortable signing Williams to a deal that approximated the contract signed by Buckner with the Colts last year. In fact, Greg Papa, the team’s radio playbyplay announcer, said Tuesday on KNBR the 49ers had a fouryear, $80 million deal on the table for Williams. However, the 49ers had to sweat while digging far deeper into their wallet.
Williams didn’t agree to terms during the twoday legaltampering period, when many of the biggest names came off the freeagent market. And, by the time an agreement was reached, there had been reports that the Chiefs, Colts and Bears strongly had pursued him.
Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk explained Wednesday why he thought Williams’ production made him worth the record investment.
“It’s not just the highlight plays,” Juszczyk said. “It’s just on regular plays when you see his ability to move another man. I would say most people, when you’re blocking somebody, it’s pretty much a stalemate. Or maybe you’re moving him back a foot or two.
“This guy is actually moving defensive linemen into the laps of linebackers. Into the secondary. And it’s something that just doesn’t really happen in the NFL. You see crazy highlights of that of high school kids or college players. But we’re all professionals.”
It was no surprise that Williams, a future Hall of Fame candidate and eighttime Pro Bowl selection, made sure he received a contract that was commensurate with his accomplishments.
During his 11month tenure with the team, which began when he was acquired in a trade from Washington in April, Williams made it clear, by his words and actions, that he was eager to test the 2021 freeagent market.
Williams declined the 49ers’ offer to sign him to an extension last offseason, when his value was relatively low after he didn’t play in 2019. In addition, the 49ers agreed to include a provision in his contract that they couldn’t retain him this offseason with the oneyear franchise tag, which would have paid Williams $13.754 million in 2021. Last year, Williams’ average annual salary ($13.2 million), based on the extension he signed with Washington in 2015, made him the NFL’s 18thhighestpaid offensive tackle.
In January, a day after the regularseason finale, Williams indicated he was excited to have the opportunity to finally experience free agency.
“It’s been 11 years in this league and I have yet to see a franchise left tackle go to the open market,” Williams said. “I think it would be interesting to kind of see what that value holds.”
Last week, on a podcast cohosted by 49ers teammate Richard Sherman, Williams indicated he was leaning toward staying with the 49ers. However, he also made it clear he wasn’t planning to accept far less money to stay in Santa Clara.
“You definitely want to feel appreciated and valued,” Williams said, “and get your worth.”
Why did the 49ers retain Williams and not Buckner?
A big reason is they didn’t see an option — in free agency or the draft — who could come close to filling Williams’ cleats at one of the NFL’s premier positions
Last year, they saw a path forward without Buckner. They used the firstround pick they received from the Colts to draft his replacement, Javon Kinlaw, and retained a lessexpensive defensive lineman, Arik Armstead, with a fiveyear, $85 million deal.
Those decisions aren’t aging well. Kinlaw, who entered the NFL with injury concerns, underwent knee surgery after a rookie season that included 1.5 sacks. Armstead, who had a careerhigh 10 sacks in 2019, dipped to 3.5 in 2020. And Buckner had 9.5 sacks for the Colts and was named a firstteam AllPro for the first time in his fiveyear career.
The expectation, of course, is that the decision to retain Williams will be worth the cost.
However, he will be 33 in July and, although he has joked about being scraped off the field when he’s 40, there’s no way to predict if he’ll be just as dominant or healthy in, say, 2023.
What is known after his recordsetting contract: Williams was prescient in early January when asked if he would be willing to take a “slight discount” to stay with the 49ers.
“I don’t know,” he said, “if discount would be the right word.”