Getty Left: San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan Right: Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid
The 49ers made NFL history last week, signing offensive tackle Trent Williams to a six-year contract extension worth $138 million along with a $55.1 million and a $30.1 million signing bonus.
However, history almost wasn’t made as the Niners had some competition and almost lost Trent Williams to the Kansas City Chiefs. KC even had Patrick Mahomes help with the recruiting process.
The 49ers were taking their good ole time when Williams shot Niners’ head coach Kyle Shanahan a text that if they didn’t throw a deal on the table soon, Williams was headed to KC.
“Once I got the hunch that K.C. seemed like they were ready to make it official, I called Kyle,” Williams told ESPN. “I couldn’t even get it out and just tell him, but I was just like, ‘Hey man, we need to hurry this up, if you get my drift.'”
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Williams Got Exactly What He Wanted, And More
Williams joined the Cris Collinsworth Podcast before he signed his new deal in San Fransisco and revealed what he was looking for in his next deal.
“I’m thinking this would be a longer deal,” Williams said. “Not longer, but a four- or five-year deal that I’m probably looking at. I’m 32 now. I’ll be 33 in July. I feel like I can play at a high level well into my (late) 30s, maybe early 40s. I don’t know. I ain’t gonna make no promises.”
Willams, 32, got six more years. But how exactly did the deal go down?
Once Shanahan received Williams’ text, he called him immediately, per ESPN. But just like the Niners made him wait, Williams did the same to Shanahan and told him he would make a decision by dinner.
Before Williams even left the parking lot of James Hardens’ restaurant in Houston, his agent called him to tell him he would be re-signing with the Niners on a record-setting deal.
It wasn’t what he was expecting, at all, to say the least,
“I thought I would either get a lot of money and be somewhere I hated to be or I would be somewhere I love to be playing for a discount,” Williams said. “I definitely didn’t think it would be both.”
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Williams Considers Shanahan Family
Williams could have easily gone with the Chiefs but decided to give Shanahan a chance to put an offer on the table. The play and coach duo’s relationship dates back to 2010 when Williams player under Shanahan at Washington.
The two are so comfortable with each other that Williams was actually in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with Shanahan’s father, Mike, just days before free agency kicked off. And no, Mike didn’t give Williams a sales pitch or anything. He didn’t need to.
“Kyle is like family to me,” Williams said. “His family is like family to me. … That’s just how close I am with that family. Kyle didn’t have to sell anything to me. I already knew what this place has to offer. I knew what he has to offer, and I knew what the front office would have to offer.”