The San Francisco 49ers are in between a rock and a hard place with latest Trent Williams dispute
The 49ers don’t have an easy answer when it comes to solving their latest dispute with star Trent Williams.
The San Francisco 49ers have benefitted from the play of elite left tackle Trent Williams for years. Williams has been the foundation that Kyle Shanahan has built the entire offensive structure upon, and his play has been the key for multiple Super Bowl runs.
However, Williams and the 49ers have had some contract disputes in recent years, and the two sides are constantly renegotiating and tweaking his deal around to suit both sides. That time has come once again, but the 49ers don’t have an easy solution when it comes to solving this problem. If they don’t get a deal done, Williams will walk.
Paying Trent Williams is obvious, but there’s a catch
On the field, Williams is one of the best left tackles in the NFL. He is a true generational talent and a no-doubt future Hall of Famer as one of the greatest offensive tackles of all time. Even at his age, Williams hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down his elite level of play. Williams is still an elite athlete who crushes opponents regularly.
However, Williams has had an issue staying on the field. He hasn’t played a full season since 2013(!) and is entering his age-38 season. He did play over 1,000 snaps in 2025 after playing just 649 in 2024, but the injury occurred late in the season, and Williams battled through it in the playoffs. With those injuries and his age, it makes his financial costs a worrying factor for the 49ers’ front office.
Williams will carry a $38.8 million cap hit for the 2026 season, which would cover nearly 13 percent of the cap. That is just $100k shy of Justin Jefferson’s cap hit for the Minnesota Vikings. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 49ers and Williams have struggled to find a contract solution to lower his cap hit for this year, which could lead to the left tackle hitting free agency.
However, the 49ers simply cannot afford to let Williams just walk in free agency. You can’t let the best left tackle in the game walk away and open up a massive void for very little cap relief. According to OverTheCap, the left tackle has a $34.2 million dead cap hit if released before June 1st. That would lower to $13.3 million if the 49ers designate him as a post-June 1st release, with the rest of the dead money carrying over to 2027. With no heir apparent at the position and little cap relief sustained, it would be extraordinarily costly for the 49ers to release him.
As it stands right now, the 49ers have to choose between caving and giving Williams whatever he wants in negotiations in order to keep him or lose out on arguably the best tackle in the game and open up a massive void on their offense. Can they afford either? I’m not convinced.
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