San Francisco 49ers: Star WR Pleads Case for Elite Teammate’s Contract Extension

The San Francisco 49ers are in the midst of contract negotiations with more than one of their star players as they approach the beginning of the 2024 regular season.

The inability to come to terms with star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk with under two weeks until the season starts has dominated the media, but a “bigger,” potentially more important contract negotiation looms in the background.

Star San Francisco 49ers T Trent Williams wants a new contract

Even though three years are remaining on Williams’ contract, which he signed after the 2020 season, Williams wants a new contract with more guaranteed money.

Williams also sits back at the No. 6 highest-paid offensive lineman spot despite being widely considered one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL. Williams doesn’t just hold down the tackle position with a consistency rarely found at such a high level, but he also provides a veteran presence as someone who was drafted in 2010.

Williams also provides the presence of an “enforcer,” protecting his teammates and contributing to an “edge” that the 49ers might not have otherwise.

Trent Williams may fight the entire city of Philadelphia 🤣 pic.twitter.com/fzsRXr3xoz

— WeAreBigGuys (@WeAreBigGuys) January 29, 2023

Trent Williams been starting fights for a minute pic.twitter.com/Jrnf9Dbghr

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 29, 2023

This is how bad Trent Williams is. The whole Browns team backed down from him pic.twitter.com/9G5oEfBfHR

— Steven Breech (@steviebreech) August 26, 2024

Here’s another angle of what Trent Williams did. This is almost always an ejection.

Brian Daboll was livid.pic.twitter.com/33U9InwlLJ https://t.co/pXCPbroHGy

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 22, 2023

San Francisco 49ers WR Deebo Samuel is vying for a new Trent Williams contract

Fellow teammate and star wide receiver Deebo Samuel took to social media to make his case for a new contract.

Samuel posted an image of Williams along with a statistic that says Williams has only allowed one sack in 983 pass-blocking snaps.

#49ERS STAR DEEBO SAMUEL JUST NOW ON IG…

SENDING A MESSAGE ABOUT TRENT WILLIAMS

👀 pic.twitter.com/8FDeJSQCXL

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 28, 2024

While Samuel didn’t explicitly say anything regarding the post, it is clear that he is trying to show that Williams provides a massive amount of value to the 49ers.

The post could shine a light on an ongoing contract negotiation that has been pushed to the background of 49ers news because a star player and wide receiver is going through the same process. Not only is Aiyuk doing the same things Williams, but talks of trades that are “all but confirmed” have had Aiyuk’s name at the forefront of all offseason media.

While Samuel is in support of Williams, 49ers legend Steve Young explained in an NBC Sports article that Williams’ contract issues complicate things for the 49ers.

“The [Super Bowl] window never closes, and it’s not going to close on us, but it will narrow. It will narrow significantly next year,” Young told KNBR’s “Tolbert & Copes” show. “So if the window’s [as] open as it’s going to be for some time right now, everybody needs to be on board. And that’s why Trent … I think he set the market [with his original contract]. And I think [49ers CEO] Jed [York] and everybody’s willing to do that because it’s the best tackle in the league.

“And now you’re going to come back and say, ‘No, I want to set it again because there’s another $8 million collectively that I can go get, and I’m on my last contract and I’m getting old. It’s like, bro. Do you not see what we’re trying to get done here?”

San Francisco 49ers T Trent Williams’ impact on the field is hard to quantify

As an offensive lineman, Samuel’s cited statistic is one of the few quantifiable methods of assigning value. Other than grades assigned by sites like Pro Football Focus, offensive linemen don’t have the luxury of being able to point to things like yards, receptions and touchdowns when vying for a new contract.

That being said, watching the film on Williams makes it very clear that he is one of the engines that makes the 49ers offense go. Williams consistently tosses around massive professional athletes despite being a decade older than some of them.

Trent Williams collected body after body against the Lions pic.twitter.com/QsvZmwsu0o

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) February 1, 2024

Trent Williams: PFF’s highest-graded Tackle in 2021 (92.0)

Straight bullying defensive linemen 💪

(🎥 @nineralex)
pic.twitter.com/Fhn5zP2jyn

— PFF (@PFF) September 22, 2021

First play of the game Trent Williams pulls, leads, and crushes an unsuspecting linebacker pic.twitter.com/4nJMtcAYr6

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) December 15, 2020

Trent Williams does this once a week and honestly it’s not even surprising anymore.

He tosses a professional athlete once a week like he’s me or you to clear lanes for the running back. Pretty nuts. pic.twitter.com/hYmWP6Wckx

— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) December 21, 2021

If the 49ers are unable to keep Williams around, their offense will struggle noticeably. If they are unable to keep Aiyuk and Williams, they will be a completely different team than the one that was a play away from winning the Super Bowl in 2023.

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