Is Trent Williams the Next Contract the 49ers Will get Done?

With George Kittle’s contract extension finalized, the 49ers can now focus their attention towards retaining their upcoming free agent players.

With George Kittle’s contract extension finalized, the 49ers can now focus their attention towards retaining their upcoming free agent players.

Richard Sherman and Kyle Juszczyk are a couple of players that come to mimd. It’s obviously going to be difficult to keep much of the roster intact in 2021 as opposed to 2020 due to the reduction of salary cap space.

Nevertheless, there is certainly a handful of players the 49ers are already prepping a contract extension for.

One player that will become a priority for the 49ers is offensive tackle Trent Williams.

San Francisco traded a couple of mid-round draft picks for Williams’ services, which is actually a bargain. However, Williams is going to cost a pretty penny to retain and the 49ers might be forced to cough up since they will be desperately lacking a solid left tackle.

So is Williams going to be the next contract the 49ers get done?

I believe so. The 49ers already gave up draft capital for Williams, and even though it wasn’t a hefty first-round pick, he still came at a cost that would basically force the 49ers to retain him.

Plus, there isn’t really a backup option at left tackle. Sure, Justin Skule proved capable in Joe Staley’s stead when he was injured, but I wouldn’t place all my chips on him quite yet. Williams is an All Pro talent at a critical position. The last thing the 49ers want is to forfeit a key part of their offense just because they didn’t want to rightfully compensate an elite player.

After seeing how they treated Kittle, there is no doubt in my mind they will take care of Williams next. Perhaps they could even offer him an extension in the middle of the season should they fall in love with him.

Let’s not forget that the 49ers fronted a bulk of Williams’ money to him out of good faith, which relinquished their ability to franchise tag him. The 49ers have already made steps towards committing to him. There is no reason to not believe he is not their top priority in getting renewed contract done.