© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
In a week, the free agency window will swing open, and we should have some idea about Trent Williams future. But what is abundantly clear is that Williams, assuming he gets his due, very much would prefer to stay with the 49ers. He said that openly during the season, but also made sure to point out that tackles of his caliber don’t often reach free agency, and he wants to see what his worth is.
His worth is almost certainly $80-plus million over the next four years, which the 49ers can afford to pay, and can also structure to have a lower year one cap hit in order to pursue other free against and expiring players.
Williams joined Richard Sherman’s PFF podcast hosted by Chris Collinsworth which released on Tuesday. Sherman said his money is on Williams staying with the 49ers.
“I got San Francisco,” Sherman said. “I got him staying in San Francisco for the faithful. I think he makes you guys happy for another five, six years, gets his gold jacket and then decides whether he wants it in Washington or San Francisco.”
Williams chuckled and did nothing to dissuade that notion.
“That’s not a bad take, fellas,” Williams said. “That’s not a bad take. Y’all barking up the right tree.”
During the more than 40-minute interview, Williams affirmed just how much he enjoyed playing under Kyle Shanahan again and how beneficial it was to be in what he said was a very welcoming locker room. The 33-year-old also said he thinks he’s poised to play at least another six seasons “at a high level.”
What Williams said is unique about himself in Shanahan’s wide-zone system is that it typically looks for athletic linemen, who don’t often have the sort of power or size to be as effective in pass protection. You saw Mike McGlinchey struggled last season in a frame that couldn’t handle power rushers consistently, while he thrived as a run blocker.
“With my having a mixture of all three, size, strength and athleticism, it gets Kyle to the point where he can literally game plan around me in that system because you know as well as I know, all it takes is one person to get out of a gap,” Williams said. “And if you have a lineman who you think can always win the gap and can show you that he can win the gap, I think it’s easier to set plays up off banking on that person being successful. So I think Kyle’s system put me on display a little bit more than a lot of other systems.”
As far as his appreciation of Shanahan, there was no real limit to the plaudits. He credited Shanahan for both his game planning and in-game play calling, which are at a level Williams said he hasn’t seen from any other coach.
While in large part, it comes down to the money, everything Williams has said has indicated he wants to stay with the 49ers and that as long as the organization doesn’t low-ball him, a deal should get done.
For a 33-year-old who has been in a toxic culture with Washington, he continually mentioned how much he valued the shift in Santa Clara, saying that 49ers players treating him like he was a long-established member of the team, “was very conducive” to how well he played this season.
Williams, who was PFF’s top-ranked tackle, clearly appreciates the earnestness of Shanahan; that’s valuable for a player who went out on bitter terms with his last team, and whose current team gave him bonus cash up front and declined to use the franchise tag on him as a gesture of goodwill.
“I think Kyle is one of the people who can make you run through a brick wall just because he’s so honest, he’s so transparent with everything he does,” Williams said. “I’ve been around the game. You don’t get that kind of transparency from the top. It’s nothing against anybody, it’s just they don’t have to, they don’t owe it to you to be transparent. So when you get a coach that can be transparent and still have the same respect for his players and players reciprocate that, I think it just speaks volumes as to who he is as a person.”
