It's been a very busy time for the San Francisco 49ers front office.
In addition to signing several free agents and picking the players that formed a pivotal 2024 draft class, the Niners have spent a lot of time negotiating contract extensions.
Jauan Jennings and Christian McCaffrey have each signed extensions this offseason, and the Niners are hopeful that Brandon Aiyuk will eventually do the same after the wide receiver skipped OTAs and mandatory minicamp as his contract saga rumbles on.
San Francisco's to-do list next offseason is set to be dominated by a contract extension for quarterback Brock Purdy, who in 2025 becomes eligible to receive a deal that, assuming he continues his remarkable ascent, will make him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.
But there's also talk that another of the Niners' best players, All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, could be set to join the queue for a payday. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently said there have been "whispers" that Williams may want a new deal eventually.
Williams was signed to a six-year, $138.06 million contract in 2021. However, he is now only fourth among tackles in contract average annual value. Williams' AAV is $23.010 million, but Penei Sewell has the highest in the NFL at the position at $28 million.
With Williams having previously expressed a belief that he could play into his 40s, it would be not be a surprise for him to request an extension that puts him back at the top of the pile in AAV Among tackles.
The 49ers giving him such a contract is unlikely to happen this year given they are still trying to thrash out the Aiyuk deal. Yet it could make sense in 2025.
That may seem a dubious statement given Williams will be entering his age-37 season in 2025.
Despite his age, Williams is still the best left tackle in football by a considerable margin, showing no signs of slowing down, the 2023 season seeing him named first-team All-Pro for the third successive year and named to an 11th Pro Bowl. While Purdy's contract will be the priority, extending Williams would actually make life easier for the Niners in their future efforts to keep as much of their core together even after losing the ultimate NFL luxury of a quarterback on a rookie deal.
Purdy's cap hit for 2025 is scheduled to be just $1.119 million. While the 49ers will certainly aim to spread the pain of paying Purdy with a signing bonus prorated over the life of the contract, the reality is his cap hit for the '25 season and the subsequent years will be much higher than the Niners have been used to in recent seasons.
Williams, meanwhile, will have a cap hit of $31.56 million in this coming season. That balloons to $34.10 million in 2025 and $37.79 million in 2026. By extending him, the 49ers could lower his base salary in each of those seasons and pay him more in guaranteed money to bring down his overall cap hit.
Indeed, per Over The Cap (h/t Kyle Posey of Niners Nation), extending Williams would save the 49ers $17 million in 2025, $24.8 million in 2026 and a massive $42.2 million in 2027, giving them significant wiggle room to fit those larger Purdy cap hits on the books without crippling their ability to make other moves.
The McCaffrey extension created additional space for the 49ers that figures to improve their odds of getting the Aiyuk deal done. As long as the Niners share the belief that Williams can continue to perform to such a high standard as he approaches his 40s, there should be mutual interest in an extension that could significantly ease the challenge of managing the roster after Purdy's deal.
