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nick wagner
multiple authors
Santa Clara, California – With the start of the early free agent negotiation window 13 days away, san francisco 49ers They have a big piece of business they’re hoping to get done soon: figuring out the contract situation for the left tackle. trent williams.
As things stand, Williams is entering the final year of his deal and has a salary cap hit of $38.84 million, which includes a base salary of $22.21 million and a $10 million option bonus in the coming weeks. That option bonus has increased the urgency to make a deal that works for both parties.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday that Williams and the Niners are “struggling to find a contractual solution.” Shortly thereafter, Niners general manager John Lynch spoke to reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and offered a more optimistic outlook.
“What I will tell you is that in recent weeks I have met with both Trent and his agent Vincent Taylor and had really good, productive and solid meetings,” Lynch said. “And so, I know this. Trent loves being a Niner. We love keeping Trent as a Niner and it’s up to us to figure it out and thread the needle. There are some unique circumstances in this, we all know what Trent is as a player, what a great player he is. He’s about to be 38 years old and so there are some things that go into it, but I think we’re all on the same page and very positive about that. Feel where he’s going.”
Reaching a new deal in the coming weeks would give the Niners certainty about the cost and cap heading into free agency. Williams’ current contract as of Tuesday does not include any guaranteed money and has three void years remaining after this season.
At the end of the season, Williams told ESPN that he was hoping the team would make some changes with his contract, perhaps in the form of a short extension that would provide him with further guarantees and give the team some additional cap relief for 2026.
It sounds simple enough, but this isn’t the first time the Niners and Williams have found it difficult to — as Lynch said — thread the needle on a deal that works for both sides. Like 2024, when Williams sat out of training camp for 40 days while seeking a lucrative contract extension, he has plenty of upside as he nears the end of his career.
At that time, Williams ultimately agreed to a restructured three-year, $82.66 million deal that included $48 million at the time of signing. After signing that deal, Williams called it a “very complicated” contract to work out because he wanted to remain one of the highest-paid tackles in the NFL.
Since then, Williams has continued to play at or near that level, making it harder for the 49ers to figure out how much to pay him while still taking a year-to-year approach when it comes to playing time.
Williams will turn 38 on July 19 and has repeatedly told ESPN that he would like to play until he is 40, which would mean any deal he and the Niners make could take into account 2026 and 2027.
Because Williams is still one of the league’s top tackles — he earned his 12th Pro Bowl nod and second-team All-Pro honors in 2025 — and the Niners have no obvious solution to replace him, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the 49ers would move on from him. However, if that happens, the Niners would have to eat $34.15 million in dead money and only have a $4.69 million cap hit.
“I think we’re on the right track and I know this, he’s been a tremendous asset to our organization,” Lynch said. “We love him. My hope, and I’ve shared it with Trent, is that his name gets added to the list of great players who have played for the Niners because he certainly fits into that category.”
While the Niners are working to deal with the Williams situation, a familiar face has also returned to help them with personnel matters. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who began his career with the Niners and spent the last four years in research and development from 2013 to 2019 minnesota vikings‘ General Manager Before that he was fired in januaryLynch said, is back working in the team’s personnel department.
According to Lynch, Adofo-Mensah called him shortly after the Vikings let him go and Lynch immediately told him he had a place in San Francisco if he wanted to return.
“It turned into a more substantive conversation and we’re bringing him back into the personnel executive role,” Lynch said. “After the draft, I think we hope to finalize it more, but we’re excited to have him back.”
Adofo-Mensah is already back around the building and helping, Lynch said. What his role ultimately is or whether Adofo-Mensah will stay long-term will be determined later.
“Sometimes you do these things on a temporary basis, let’s just focus on the draft and then we’ll figure out how we want to use them or what the permanent role might be. Or maybe something else happens,” Lynch said.
While meeting with reporters, Lynch also said the Niners have agreed to terms on a contract extension for the long snapper john weeks And that the team is “not expecting” to use the franchise tag on the kicker. eddie pineiro But will continue to work on a new deal for him.
