Friday was an important day for Trent Williams and the San Francisco 49ers. There was a deadline at 1 p.m. PT for the 49ers to exercise a $10 million option bonus in Williams’ contract. It’s an option bonus spread out in increments of $2.5 million over the next four years for salary cap purposes, but it was a team option.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 49ers opted not to exercise the option bonus. So that means Williams’ salary cap number will now grow from $38 million to north of $47 million.
Schefter tweeted the 49ers “aren’t overly concerned about it and are still planning to rework his contract before next month’s NFL Draft.”
If the 49ers and Williams reach an extension, the team will save somewhere around $16.8 million in cap space for the 2026 season, per Over the Cap. A restructure would save around $15.7 million.
Williams currently has the sixth-highest contract from a total value perspective at left tackle. His deal is the third-most annually, but only 17th in guarantees. That’s likely where the two sides are disagreeing at this juncture. If and when a new contract happens, expect Williams to be closer to five than 20th for left tackles in total guarantees.
