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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterSep 3, 2024, 08:14 AM ET
- Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Trent Williams‘ holdout is over.
The San Francisco 49ers and Williams agreed to a restructured three-year, $82.66 million deal that includes $48 million at signing and a $25.69 million signing bonus, according to his agency, ending their prolonged contract dispute and putting the star left tackle in position to play in Monday’s season opener against the New York Jets.
He will make $27.65 million in cash this season, according to his agency, the most of any offensive lineman.
Williams, 36, has held out of San Francisco’s entire training camp, accruing more than $4 million in fines for missing every practice and three preseason games. Williams, who spent his time away from the team at home in Houston preparing for the season, had been owed $20.05 million this season under the six-year, $138.1 million deal he signed in 2021.
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The Niners left Williams off their 53-man roster last week, keeping him on the reserve/did not report list. San Francisco created over $5.4 million in salary cap space Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, by restructuring the contract of defensive lineman Maliek Collins.
This will be the second time the Niners have reconfigured a deal for a star player this offseason. They did a similar deal with Christian McCaffrey in June that gave the running back significant guarantees and bolstered his average annual pay.
The ramped-up negotiations between Williams and the 49ers came less than a week after the defending NFC champions resolved a similar contract dispute with star receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who signed a four-year, $120 million deal that includes $76 million guaranteed.
For their part, the Niners never seemed overly worried about Williams’ holdout. Coach Kyle Shanahan offered no concern about Williams last month, saying, “I think we’ll be able to work that out.”
Widely considered the NFL’s top offensive lineman, Williams, before he agreed to the reworked contract, had an average annual salary that ranked sixth among tackles after Tampa Bay’s Tristan Wirfs, Detroit’s Penei Sewell and Minnesota’s Christian Darrisaw all signed big-money deals this offseason. Houston’s Laremy Tunsil and the Giants’ Andrew Thomas also make more than Williams in terms of average annual salary.
Williams’ deal, before he agreed to a restructured pact, also included no more guaranteed money, although the 49ers are still on the hook for nearly $30 million in signing bonus proration through 2027 because of restructures they have done on the contract.
Williams ranked as the best pass-blocking tackle in the NFL in 2023, with a 95.8% pass block win rate. The Niners averaged 6.05 yards per carry when rushing behind Williams to the left side last season, while averaging 4.45 yards per attempt on all other rushing attempts.
Last season, Williams missed two games, played through injury in another and played only 12 snaps in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Rams. The 49ers were 0-4 in those games and 12-1 in all others.
Given their current offensive line issues, Williams’ return doesn’t come a moment too soon for the Niners. Their top three guards — Aaron Banks (broken pinkie), Spencer Burford (broken hand) and Jon Feliciano (knee surgery) — have missed significant practice time. Feliciano will miss regular-season games.
Fourth-year veteran Jaylon Moore handled left tackle duties in Williams’ stead throughout the preseason, but Williams is expected to step back into his starting role quickly upon his return.
