The San Francisco 49ers have made their biggest personnel moves internally this offseason, opting to sign key players to lucrative extensions rather than be active in the free agent market.
Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Fred Warner all got big paydays from San Francisco thus far.
But one key position still holds a lot of uncertainty for the 49ers beyond 2025, and that’s the offensive line position.
But ESPN’s Aaron Schatz has a simple fix for the Niners: draw up another extension.
In an article titled “Proposing one final offseason move for all 32 NFL teams” Schatz suggests that the 49ers offer right tackle Colton McKivitz a short contract extension.
“Left tackle Trent Williams turns 37 in July,” Schatz wrote. “He could decide to retire at any time. McKivitz’s contract ends after the 2025 season, and the 49ers don’t want to be stuck having to replace both tackles at the same time. So the wise thing to do is to give McKivitz a small extension, maybe a couple of more seasons.”
Has McKivitz Earned A Contract Extension?
The main argument for offering McKivitz a contract extension is that it offers the 49ers some offensive line continuity and stability.
McKivitz has not been an elite offensive tackle thus far in his career by any means, and Schatz admits that in his article.
“He’s not a great tackle — he ranked 52nd out of 66 qualifying tackles with an 85.9% pass block win rate in 2024 — but he has improved in recent seasons,” Schatz wrote.
McKivitz’s best ability has been availability. The last two seasons, he has started and played all 17 games.
Plus, at only 28 years old, he has plenty of years and physical prime left in his career to continue to improve.
McKivitz’s contract expires at the end of the 2025 season, so the 49ers don’t have much time to decide if they want to extend him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Are Rumors Of Williams’ Retirement Overblown?
One of the main reasons that Schatz suggests that the 49ers extend McKivitz is because he thinks they should be planning for Trent Williams’s retirement.
Many sportswriters like Schatz have suggested that Trent Williams could retire as soon as this offseason, especially if he captures the first Super Bowl of his career with the 49ers this season. Given that he is turning 37 in July, that’s not an unreasonable guess.
But if you ask Williams himself, he isn’t hanging up the cleats any time soon.
“I would love to play until I’m 40,” Williams said in a press conference at 49ers minicamp. “I would love to make it into that special group. But if it’s not in my cards, it’s not in my cards. But I’m gonna do everything physically possible. I’m gonna stay engaged.”
That would mean four more seasons of NFL football for Williams. In that case, maybe the 49ers don’t need to worry so much about extending McKivitz’s contract and they should look into extending Williams instead. Williams has consistently been the best tackle in the NFL when healthy and his contract expires after the 2026 season.
But what do you think, 49ers fans? Has Colton McKivitz earned a contract extension?
