Left tackle Trent Williams, a 12-time Pro Bowler, could be running out of time with the 49ers.
Williams is scheduled to count $39 million against the 49ers’ salary cap in 2026, the final season of a three-year pact he agreed upon just before the 2024 season after a training camp holdout.
The 49ers again are in a “standoff” with Williams and he could become a free agent in two weeks if no cap reduction is reached, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
General manager John Lynch, however, said he felt “very positive” how contract talks are progressing after “good, productive and substantive meetings” with both Williams and his agent, Vincent Taylor.
“Here’s what I know: Trent loves being a Niner, we love having Trent as a Niner, and it’s up to us to figure that out and thread that needle,” Lynch said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
“There are some unique circumstances in that we all know what Trent is as a player, how great of a player he’s been,” Lynch added. “He’s going to be 38 years old and so there are some things that go into that. But I feel we’re all on the same page and feel very positive about where that’s going.”
Williams is due a $10 million bonus March 20 and a $22 million salary this coming season, according to Spotrac.com.
John Lynch on the Trent Williams situation. Two sides met today. #49ers pic.twitter.com/INUP7iDl0x
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) February 24, 2026
If released or traded, the 49ers would incur $34 million in dead money against the cap but thus save nearly $5 million off the expected outlay to Williams. Or, as Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti noted on social media, the 49ers could lower his salary to the minimum $1.3 million and designate him a post-June 1 release, thus pushing his dead-money hits to $13.3 million for 2026 and $20.8 million in 2027.
This is the 49ers’ third contract tug-of-war with Williams. Acquired in a 2020 trade from Washington, he tested free agency in 2021 and nearly left for the Kansas City Chiefs before returning on a six-year, $136 million pact. Two years ago, Williams emerged from a camp holdout and reported five days before the season opener on a three-year, $82.66 million deal.
After the 49ers’ blowout divisional-round playoff loss in Seattle, Williams praised both the 49ers’ against-all-odds season and their future. He also said it was “accurate” to say there’s no question he’d continue his career and wouldn’t be retiring. He turns 38 on July 19.
“Just give him the bag and keep him 2-4 more years,” former 49ers guard Jon Feliciano posted on the social-media platform X.
When Williams reported to training camp last July, he talked about career longevity and whether his could proverbially fall off a cliff.
“My cliff might be different than others. Some people don’t ever hit a cliff and might want to retire on top,” Williams said. “For me, I love to compete so much I probably don’t see myself stopping with effective football left in the tank.”
Three weeks ago, Williams was part of the Pro Bowl Games in San Francisco, as was Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Jared Verse, who said of a potential career decline by Williams: “He hasn’t done it yet and is not doing it. He’s good.”
Verse was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024 and he recalled Williams providing a welcome-to-the-NFL moment. “It was the first time in my life I’d been reached and I couldn’t get off the block,” Verse recalled Feb. 2. “I tried to move his hands and he wouldn’t move and he just started laughing. I said, ‘Get off with me.’ He said, ‘You’re so funny, Verse.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not joking. You’re too strong for this.’ ”
Williams played in all but one game last season, that being the regular-season finale after sustaining a hamstring strain trying to halt a pick-six on the opening snap of their penultimate game against Chicago. Only one offensive lineman has made more Pro Bowls, Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews with 14.
If the 49ers move on from Williams, they have no obvious heir apparent at left tackle, and although Colton McKivitz filled in there for Williams a few years ago, McKivitz’s play at right tackle earned him a contract extension last year. Journeyman Austen Pleasants is an exclusive rights free agent but not seen as a game-ready starter.
In terms of finances, only defensive end Nick Bosa counts more on this coming season’s salary cap at a $41.6 million cost and $22.7 million salary that could be adjusted with bonus money to lower his cap figure. Third on the cap-cost list is quarterback Brock Purdy at $24.4 million as part of last year’s record contract (five years, $265 million).
In other moves, long snapper Jon Weeks is re-signing rather than hitting free agency, kicker Eddy Piñeiro will not receive the franchise tag, wide receiver Jauan Jennings remains in contact for a potential return, and Brandon Aiyuk’s eventual departure won’t happen until at least March 11, Lynch told reporters in Indianapolis.
FRONT OFFICE ENCORE
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, fired last month after four years as the Minnesota Vikings general manager, will return to the 49ers as a personnel executive, Lynch told reporters, according to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. Adofo-Mensah was instrumental in the 49ers’ research and analytics department from 2013-19. He worked in the Cleveland Browns’ front office before the Vikings hired him in 2022.
PURSUING MAC JONES?
If the 49ers opt to trade Brock Purdy’s backup, Mac Jones, a few teams have acknowledged they’re in the market for a quarterback. One is the Minnesota Vikings, and executive vice president Rob Brzezinski said, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert: “I don’t know if we’re ruling anything out. … We have not a ton of time but we have a couple of weeks and so we’re exploring every option that could be out there.”
ANOTHER TO WASHINGTON?
A year after Washington general manager Adam Peters traded for 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, he didn’t feed speculation that the Commanders could be a landing spot for Brandon Aiyuk, who didn’t play last season for the 49ers and was placed on the reserve/left squad list in December. The 49ers voided Aiyuk’s 2026 guarantees ($27 million) last July and have indicated he is not expected back, though they’ve yet to release him.
“Brandon Aiyuk is a player on another team under contract so I can’t comment on that,” said Peters, formerly of the 49ers’ front office. “… Love the person but I can’t really comment on the player.” Samuel, by the way, is slated for free agency in two weeks.
SALEH’S GRATITUDE
Robert Saleh thanked the 49ers for a second stint as their defensive coordinator en route to becoming the Tennessee Titans’ coach.
“San Francisco, it is a championship organization, with a championship ownership, championship head coach, championship GM, championship everything,” he said. “To go back there, having been a head coach, to go back and piece the puzzle together of what a championship organization looks like and how it operates, just grateful I was given that opportunity to do that again, and everything I learned, hopefully we can take it to this next step.”
Saleh took former 49ers assistant head coach Gus Bradley with him to serve as the Titans’ defensive coordinator. “Gus is like a second dad to me,” Saleh said. “He’s had amazing impact on my life and not to mention he’s one of the better D-coordinators in all of football. To have him on staff, especially this cycle when there was a lot of competition for his services, is a blessing for all of us.”
QUINN’S 49ERS LESSONS
Washington’s Dan Quinn reflected on his NFL coaching entry with the 2001-04 49ers in terms of evaluating players.
“From my first time being in the NFL at the 49ers, a number of the people there taught me what excellence could look like in pro football, (including) a guy by the name of Bill McPherson, who’d been a coach and was the pro director at the time,” Quinn said. “…Since that time I’ve been much more interested in what a player can do and how we would feature them, than the traits they don’t have.”
