49ers free agency tracker: Trade possible for left tackle Trent Williams?
SANTA CLARA — The NFL’s 52-hour window is open for teams to conduct contract talks and secure verbal agreements. Here are the latest updates and how they impact the 49ers:
TRADING TRENT?
The 49ers are open to trading left tackle Trent Williams, the NFL Network reported, two weeks after Williams’ camp went public with discontent over contract negotiations.
Williams is entering the final year of a three-year pact he signed days before the 2024 season. He counts a team-high $39 million against this coming season’s salary cap, including a $10 million bonus that is due March 20, which means time remains for more contract negotiations.
Williams, 37, is coming off his 12th Pro Bowl season and played all but the regular-season finale, having injured a hamstring on the first play of the previous game. Acquired in a 2020 trade from Washington, Williams replaced the retired Joe Staley, and Williams nearly left the 49ers a year later in free agency for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 49ers have no ready-made replacement unless they plan on moving Colton McKivitz from right tackle; McKivitz secured a three-year, $45 million extension last September. Austen Pleasants struggled in place of Williams in Week 18 against the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.
“There are some unique circumstances in that we all know what Trent is as a player, how great of a player he’s been,” general manager John Lynch said Feb. 24. “He’s going to be 38 years old and so there are some things that go into that. But I feel we’re all on the same page and feel very positive about where that’s going.”
WIDE RECEIVER MARKET
The 49ers need help at wide receiver but will not be adding speedster Alec Pierce, who is returning to Indianapolis on a four-year, $114 million deal, NFL Network reported.
Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, and Skyy Moore are among the 49ers’ unrestricted free agents.
WALKER LEAVES SEATTLE
Running back Kenneth Walker III is leaving the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks for the Kansas City Chiefs, after winning Super Bowl MVP honors and starting his postseason with a 116-yard, three-touchdown effort in a 41-6 divisional win to eliminate the 49ers. Walker never ran for 100 yards in his seven regular-season games wtih the 49ers but had 97 yards in their Week 18 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
QUARTERBACK HUDDLE
While the 49ers have made no public quest to trade backup quarterback Mac Jones, the quarterback market is getting saturated with four veterans’ impending release: Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins), Kyler Murray (Cardinals), Kirk Cousins (Falcons) and Geno Smith (Raiders).
The Falcons reportedly will move fast on Tagovailoa, who will count $99 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap over the next two years. Perspective: the 49ers could cut Brock Purdy today and he’d cost $90.9 million.
ALSO LEAVING TOWN?
Although the 49ers re-signed kicker Eddy Piñeiro and long snapper Jon Weeks, they have 19 players slated for unrestricted free agency, headlined by Jennings.
KELCE’S RETURN
Travis Kelce will reportedly return to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 14th season, which isn’t a surprise but does nix the possibility Kelce could fill in while George Kittle recovers from January’s Achilles repair.
TRADES GALORE
Once trades and other deals can be formalized Wednesday at 1 p.m., a slew of them will be documented, including:
Defensive end Rashan Gary, from the Green Bay Packers to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2027 fourth-round pick, seven months after the Packers traded for Micah Parsons from Dallas (for two first-rounders and defensive tackle Kenny Clark).
Safety Minkah Pitzpatrick, from the Miami Dolphins to the New York Jets for a seventh-round pick, and with Fitzpatrick scoring a three-year, $40 million extension.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby, from the Raiders to the Baltimore Ravens for a first-round pick in each of the next two drafts. Friday night’s news extended a drought in which it’s believed the Raiders have never traded a player to the 49ers.