3 reasons why SF 49ers won’t re-sign Trent Williams
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Financials don’t make sense for Trent Williams, SF 49ers
According to Spotrac.com’s market-value tool, Trent Williams is worth a three-year deal worth a total of $54.78 million and an average annual value of $18.2 million.
Right now, Spotrac has the Niners with $18.879 million in available cap space for 2021. On the surface, it seems like that’s more than enough for a Williams re-sign deal. Particularly just by looking at the projected annual value.
Without the need to get too deep, though, one could easily see the idea of re-signing any of San Francisco’s other free agents would essentially be impossible without some serious roster jockeying elsewhere. And it would eliminate the SF 49ers from even being modest players elsewhere on the free-agent market. Plus, adding to the complication, the Niners would need to reserve approximately $7 million to sign their 2021 rookie class following this year’s NFL Draft.
OK, so why doesn’t San Francisco simply backload the deal?
It’s not that simple. Williams’ agent will likely advise him to take as much upfront money as soon as possible, namely at this point of his career. And with a number of teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and NY Jets boasting north of $70 million, Williams won’t have a shortage of suitors willing to pay now.
On top of all that, the SF 49ers have to set aside what promises to be a lucrative amount of cap space to extend their best defensive player, linebacker Fred Warner, who could also take up a deal worth $18 million annually.
That would be a better route to take.