{"id":779577,"date":"2026-02-27T09:39:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/779577\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T09:39:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:39:52","slug":"trent-williams-inevitable-49ers-money-why-negotiations-get-weird-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/779577\/","title":{"rendered":"Trent Williams\u2019 inevitable 49ers money, why negotiations get weird, and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. The 49ers and Trent Williams are likely headed toward a new contract restructuring \u2014 not a breakup \u2014 despite the alarm-bell ESPN headline earlier this week.<\/p>\n

I heard the same thing from NFL sources this week that I heard in the weeks and months before ESPN reported that Williams and the 49ers were struggling to come to an agreement, which the report heavily implied could lead to the 49ers releasing Williams before they\u2019d have to make a $10 million up-front payment.<\/p>\n

Umm, no, the sources said. Unless something crazy happens, the 49ers intend to add more guaranteed money to Williams\u2019 deal and Williams, who turns 38 in July, intends to be with the 49ers through the rest of his career.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the financial terms have to be figured out. Definitely, there could be, as there almost always is with the 49ers and high-profile players, some tension during the back and forth. The player wants more. The team wants to pay less. And guaranteeing future money gets riskier as players age.<\/p>\n

But why would the 49ers release Williams \u2014 and create a $34 million dead-cap hit \u2014 over a relatively minor $10 million payment then watch him play left tackle for somebody else this season? It\u2019s sort of silly to even pretend that could happen. <\/p>\n

And unlike with Deebo Samuel and several other big offloads in recent offseasons, the 49ers want Williams on the team in 2026. They have the cap space. Most importantly, as several sources pointed out, the 49ers have no plausible replacement for Williams. <\/p>\n

Call it the Austen Pleasants Tax. If you go into an offseason with Pleasants as your theoretical fallback option to replace a future Hall of Famer at an extremely important position, you are admitting that you have to pay the future HOF-er almost every dollar that he wants.<\/p>\n

Again, I\u2019ve been told that the 49ers generally understand this. They haven\u2019t used a draft pick on a tackle since 2021, when they selected Jaylon Moore in the fifth round \u2014 then lost him to free agency last March. They haven\u2019t brought in a young veteran. There\u2019s no way they could count on a player from this year\u2019s draft to plug right into protecting Brock Purdy\u2019s blind side against the Seahawks, Rams, or anybody else.<\/p>\n

The 49ers have just continued to ride with Williams, who turned in the 12th Pro Bowl season of his career and gutted through both playoff games on a bad hamstring. The 49ers need him now, even going into his age-38 season, just as much as they needed him two seasons ago, when he held out through training camp then got a top-dollar guarantee through last season.<\/p>\n

(Wait, the 49ers amazingly might need Williams even more now, closer to 40 than he is to 35, than they did in 2024.)<\/p>\n

Williams presumably wants a guarantee through 2026 and probably at least a partial guarantee into 2027 \u2014 theoretically increasing his remaining guarantee to about $35 million, up from the current $0. <\/p>\n

The 2024 restructure was designed for this; the 49ers can either do nothing and deal with Williams\u2019 $38.8 million cap hit this season or guarantee more in the future to lower the \u201826 hit. Or Williams could just hold out again if there\u2019s no agreement and force the 49ers to do something by late August.<\/p>\n

This has all happened before. Because Williams remains great, it\u2019s happening again, and it\u2019s due to happen just like it did two years ago, all over again. (But maybe quicker this time.)<\/p>\n

2. A theory on why the 49ers\u2019 big contract talks get so spicy so often: Their negotiators often come in hot and heavy at the start, which provokes strong reactions from the other side.<\/p>\n

Sometimes agents come in hot and heavy, too of course, which might\u2019ve been the initiating part of this most recent ESPN report. It sure read like an agent firing a flare into the sky to get some attention. Successfully, I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n

But the 49ers and their fans are susceptible to nerve-rattling, at least in public view, because they\u2019ve had so many torturous and distracting negotiations in the recent past.<\/p>\n

And I believe that many of the toughest moments in these negotiations have happened because the 49ers\u2019 negotiators have a habit of starting the talks with a hard line and maybe some harsher-than-necessary words.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what I heard with the Deebo negotiations in 2022, after his monster 2021 campaign, when sources indicated that the 49ers opened talks by telling his camp that his body wasn\u2019t likely to hold up long enough for him to be worth huge long-term money. Probably not wrong, but not very nice!<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t exactly know what happened in the Brandon Aiyuk talks last offseason; clearly, some of the most disconnecting moments came from Aiyuk\u2019s camp. But it\u2019s not like the 49ers\u2019 side did much to keep things calm, either. 49ers executives threatened (and were ready) to trade Aiyuk throughout that summer; it wasn\u2019t just joshing around when Kyle Shanahan raced to stop any potential trade after Aiyuk said he\u2019d agree to the 49ers\u2019 last offer.<\/p>\n

Of course, the 49ers have still ended up paying market rate or more for Aiyuk, Deebo, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and George Kittle despite some anxious times in all of those negotiations. And they gave in a little last season and sweetened Jauan Jennings\u2019 deal after some stormy times. Maybe the only slightly discounted recent big deal was with Purdy last May, but he still got $53 million a year and he wasn\u2019t in the mood to get jumpy about anything, anyway.<\/p>\n

For this negotiation, maybe the 49ers\u2019 negotiators tossed out a big-bluff, \u201chey, we don\u2019t have to pay you anything, starting with that $10 million.\u201d And the ESPN report easily could\u2019ve been the Williams camp\u2019s loud retort \u2014 yeah, go ahead. Because they\u2019d know the 49ers were just bluffing. It\u2019s part of the process, I guess.<\/p>\n

\"FourJohn Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have overseen several contentious negotations with star players. | Source: Chris Unger\/Getty Images3. For the Warriors, trying to find a way to retain De\u2019Anthony Melton and maybe even Al Horford might be almost as important as adding a big-name player this summer.<\/p>\n

The Warriors\u2019 top execs probably have brainstormed through dozens of white boards filled with ways to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trey Murphy III, Bam Adebayo, or, what the heck, even Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, or LeBron James this coming offseason \u2026 and presumably have not allocated much dream space for scenarios to re-sign Melton and Horford.<\/p>\n

Which is understandable. Without one more star added to Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and a healed Jimmy Butler next season, the Warriors won\u2019t be a title contender. And this whole thing is about title contention.<\/p>\n

2 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Feb. 17<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The Warriors also have the added layer of figuring out what to do with newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis, who could be re-signed as a third\/fourth star or used in a sign-and-trade to land a new big name. (Draymond could be in the same category.)<\/p>\n

However \u2026 if the Warriors can\u2019t land Giannis or another superstar and this is about putting together a decent roster next season, it might come down to either Porzingis or Melton, with Horford as a potential add-on with Melton.<\/p>\n

And unless Porzingis shows real evidence that he can be counted on next season, if I was the Warriors, I might prioritize keeping Melton and adding Horford as the main stretch-center if he wants to keep playing with the Warriors.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the math: Melton is signed for the minimum now, but he\u2019s played his way far above that going into the offseason. He\u2019s not a star, but he\u2019s really good in the driving, finishing, just-be-tough ways the Warriors need. On the market this summer, Melton likely will be worth most or all of the nontaxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be about $15 million. <\/p>\n

But the Warriors likely won\u2019t be under the tax line and eligible for the NTPMLE unless they wipe away Porzingis\u2019 current salary slot. Easiest way to do that: Let him walk for nothing as a free agent. <\/p>\n

That would be a big loss, of course. The Warriors crave that extra talent. And if they don\u2019t retain Porzingis or acquire a similar talent in a S&T, that would be a big drop-off for the Warriors. But it\u2019d get them out of the tax. Which would make them immediately eligible to use the NTPMLE on Melton or whoever else.<\/p>\n

They can\u2019t really sign both. The Warriors would want both, but it\u2019d take a big roster cleansing to make it possible. Which I don\u2019t think is happening. So the Warriors likely will have to choose. It\u2019s not the way a title-contender wants to operate in the offseason, but those days might\u2019ve passed for the Warriors. <\/p>\n

Note: If you use one of the MLEs, you\u2019re hard-capped at the first apron, which the Warriors experienced this cycle because they signed Horford to the taxpayer MLE.<\/p>\n

\"ADe\u2019Anthony Melton is averaging 12.7 points per game for the Warriors this season. | Source: Amber Pietz\/The Standard4. Six consecutive home games to start their post-Olympic finishing run? That\u2019s a perfect way for the Sharks to leverage Macklin Celebrini\u2019s superstar turn in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no better time than right now for the Sharks to grab some of the Bay Area spotlight \u2014 Celebrini\u2019s a certified NHL alpha-to-be, Stephen Curry is out, the Giants are weeks away from Opening Day, the 49ers are doing draft and free-agent research, and the Sharks can make a lot of happy noise at SAP Center over the next 10 days.<\/p>\n

The Sharks need to skip over a few teams to get into the playoffs, but a hot run through this homestand could get them right there. Then they\u2019ll have to hold on.<\/p>\n

Celebrini is definitely good enough to carry the Sharks into the playoffs practically by himself \u2014 just a season after the Sharks had the worst record in the league. He\u2019s got some other up-and-comers alongside. And if the Sharks make it into the playoffs, especially if the Warriors are already into their offseason by then, it might be a pivot point for the franchise.<\/p>\n

I also want to see how this affects the home crowd. The Sharks have the second-lowest average attendance in the league so far this season (according to Hockey-Reference.com), behind only Winnipeg \u2014 and not counting Utah, which is selling out its 12,0478-seat capacity in an arena that is due to be renovated and expanded. <\/p>\n

But the Sharks\u2019 15,750 average is a good deal higher than the reported average of 14,219 last season, which was higher than the reported 13,559 in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going in the right direction. The team is absolutely going in the right direction. That all could accelerate starting right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. The 49ers and Trent Williams are likely headed toward a new contract restructuring \u2014 not a breakup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,3647,2810,2812,79293,6,1161,252,10007,2624,2623,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-779577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-john-lynch","12":"tag-kyle-shanahan","13":"tag-macklin-celebrini","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","17":"tag-san-jose-sharks","18":"tag-sanfrancisco","19":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","20":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116141939025345122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}