Contract Season: Will the 49ers Re-Sign Trent Williams in 2021?

If Williams plays well, would the 49ers just let him leave?

The 49ers brought most of their 2019 team back to make another run at the Super Bowl in 2020. But in 2021, the 49ers probably will look much different, because they will have 26 unrestricted free agents, and 16 of them have started games for San Francisco. The next few weeks, we will analyze the big-name players on this list and predict which ones the 49ers will keep after the upcoming season, and which ones they won’t.

Today, we predict left tackle Trent Williams’ future.

The 49ers were desperate. Joe Staley informed them he would retire just a week before the draft. All offseason, they suspected he might retire, but didn’t learn for sure until late April.

They could have used the 14th pick in the draft on Tristan Wirfs, a young offensive tackle who could replace Staley for the next 10 years, but didn’t. Instead, the 49ers drafted defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, and traded a third-round pick in 2021 to Washington for veteran left tackle Trent Williams, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season.

The 49ers aren’t particularly invested in him. They just need him now. Remember, they were desperate.

They could extend Williams’ contract, but don’t want to yet -- he hasn’t played since 2018. He sat out all of last season. The 49ers want to see how he plays in 2020 before they decide if they want to keep him.

Williams could be a mere one-season rental. The 49ers easily could replace him in 2021 with Justin Skule, who played well for a rookie last season. He’s decent. The 49ers won all eight games he started.

But Williams is the best left tackle in the NFL. And he will turn 32 in July, so he’s not old. And 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan loves him. Talks about him like he’s the greatest athlete in the world. Shanahan and his father drafted Williams with the fourth pick in 2010 -- they helped develop him. Williams practically is in the Shanahan family.

And just last week, the 49ers renegotiated Williams’ contract -- gave him money up front and agreed not to give him the franchise tag in 2021. So they’ll have to let him leave, or give him a multi-year extension. One or the other. And the goal for both sides is to agree to a multi-year extension, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

As part of his reworked contract with the 49ers, OT Trent Williams cannot be franchise tagged after this season, per source. The eventual goal for both sides remains a long-term deal for the 7-time Pro Bowler.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 23, 2020

So if Williams plays well, would the 49ers just let him leave?

He’ll be expensive -- probably even more expensive than Geore Kittle, who also will be an unrestricted free agent in 2021. But the 49ers can franchise tag Kittle and save money. They don’t necessarily have to lock him up long term next year. You haven’t seen the 49ers renegotiate Kittle’s deal and tell him they won’t tag him in 2021, do you?

I predict the 49ers will make re-signing Williams, not Kittle, their top priority next offseason, and Williams will be their left tackle for the next half decade at least.

What will happen to Kittle?

Stay tuned.