All-Pro LT Trent Williams reflects on offseason contract negotiations with 49ers
49ers left tackle Trent Williams speaks to reporters after San Francisco's practice on Wednesday in Santa Clara.
All-Pro LT Trent Williams reflects on offseason contract negotiations with 49ers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Gone through contract situations here in the past.
How, how much of a, a load off your shoulders was it to have it finalized so early in the off-season this time?
Oh, it, it was good.
It was I think it was a load off everybody's shoulder.
But honestly, this time around wasn't, wasn't as stressful.
you know, every- everything was kinda how I expected it to go, you know.
obviously there was pushback a little bit on both sides, but for the most part we both knew what we wanted to do.
we, we seen things pretty similar for the future, and so it's pretty easy to get through it.
That contract is structured, do you expect fully to play, obviously not only this season, but next season as well?
Yeah.
Yeah.
What was your reaction to the, Miles Garrett trade?
Eh, same as everybody.
Everybody that's not in, Rams country, but yeah, I mean, it sucks.
Coach Foerster said yesterday that kinda he came in really early, watched film, and then once he broke it down play-by-play, it didn't seem as big of a task.
I mean, it's just taking it one step at a time.
Do you agree?
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree with my coach.
I mean, you- at the end of the day, you gotta go out there and play.
Miles is a Scary part is he's still a young player, so, he's still gonna get better.
And I know that's scary after seeing what he did last year.
So I'm never expecting to run into the same player.
I know that, we see him week one in Australia, he probably will be a little bit better than he was last time I seen him.
And, you know, just gotta buckle up, man.
It's gonna be tough.
I ain't the only one gotta block him here, you know.
It's 31 other teams got that same news, so you know, it is what it is.
I know we asked you before about this- Coach Foerster, yesterday as you just mentioned, but I asked him about the hit batters and who seemingly has done the most work trying to, you know, close that gap in what they were asked to do in the off-season and coming in.
He said specifically Dominic Puley, and then he said Connor Colby has also made a jump, but specifically Dominic.
What have you seen since it being back?
I mean, I've been back a total of about 36 hours, so, hadn't seen a whole bunch.
But I mean, you know, Pu- Puley's a ultra-talented guy.
He's, he's just gifted.
He's a gifted player, he's a gifted athlete, so, you know, that's to be expected.
I expect him to make that leap, to make that Pro Bowl leap, to be in that conversation.
He's that good and, I think he should expect it out of himself, too.
You're forming this question a lot, but, having just said what you said about playing the next two years, did, did it cross your mind that this would be the last contract you sign?
Or are you still- Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, so- Yeah so where, where, do you envision this being it?
Or- Probably.
Yeah?
Yeah.
What, what's, what's that thought like then when you- It's scary.
It's scary.
you know, I'm toying between the idea of going till I can't no more and just, you know, leaving while I still got some good product left, you know, and not getting ran out the league.
So, you know, it's been a long time and, I had a daughter that she was born a few months before I got drafted, so you know, I'm going on year 17.
She's turning 17.
So, you know, the, the, the You just, as a father you feel like, you know, damn, I done kinda sat and really kinda missed her whole life.
I mean, kinda, you know, from adult- into adulthood.
So, you know, part of me wants to, you know, when she get go off to college in a couple years, I wanna, you know, be there and be accessible and, you know.
I don't wanna be that father that, you know, shadows the kid, but I'm gonna be close, you know what I mean?
I wanna be close.
I don't wanna be, somewhere at a joint practice, you know what I mean, when it's time for her to move into school and stuff like that.
So it's little stuff I gotta think about and, you know, obviously I can't tell the future.
I don't know.
I'm still a competitor.
It's hard not to compete when you can, so we'll see.
Brent, what if your daughter says, "But you're so close to playing till you're 40.
Come on, Dad."
She might.
She might.
And that might give me a little extra boost, but you know, we'll see.
Grant, you were really emotional about, after the, the loss of the playoffs, about what that team achieved despite the injuries and everything, the loss.
So that, that you're thinking that, "Okay, I wanna, I wanna keep going to be a part of this?"
No, I think, I've always been fully committed to these next few years.
Like I, I, I didn't have any thought last year that this could be my last season or, you know, despite what everybody believed, I always knew that I had a couple more years left in me, so.
that, but that did restore like the, the f- the fun into it, I guess you could say, from the, the season prior was a, you know, excuse my language, but a shitshow.
And then, you know, for us to be faced with as much adversity the next year and to show that we can overcome that and we can, you know, subscribe to the coaching and go out there and, and execute the game plan and we can be successful.
So yeah, it did, it did kinda revive that, that fun that I, that you get addicted to when you playing and winning, you know.
Had some contract issues, I mean, over the last few years.
You were one of them where you s- you just didn't sign till the very end, but there were other louder ones.
Doesn't look like there's gonna be any of that.
Who knows?
But it doesn't look like What, what kind of impact can that have to start a training camp, to start a season?
I mean, just having everybody here, you know, and not having to answer a couple extra questions every time you get to media, media availability.
you know, it might take a little load off, but I'm not gonna sit here and say, "Oh, we gonna be a better team.
We gotta worry about that."
Like, that honestly doesn't play that big of a part.
Obviously, when you got guys missing the whole training camp, like me, or you know.
Obviously that, that does take a little toll, but-Yeah, I mean, as a player, you wake up every day, you're just trying to do your job and be the best player you can be.
And I think we all carry that attitude.
None of that other stuff really matter.
gotten a long look at Enrique Cruz, but what are your, your first impressions of him?
just very coachable.
I know I was just-- Working with him yesterday, I just mentioned a couple things, but it was, refreshing to see the next play literally correct and what we talking about is not like easy stuff.
And, you know, I mentioned it to coach, and that was his feedback, was like, "Man, that's been him since he's been here.
You tell him one time, and he corrects it," you know.
So, like I said, I haven't been here long, haven't had a chance to be with him for an extended period of time, but, you know, from what I heard since I've been back, I've heard really good things.
Just have a month before training camp, and do you do the same things in your seventeenth year, eighteenth year that you did when you were coming out of Oklahoma in this month before camp, or has this month changed quite a bit through the years?
yeah, I think every, every year I try to figure out a way to trim the fat and just, you know, focus on what is gonna contribute to me being a better football player.
So, you know, just looking forward to doing that, you know.
And that's one year it might be doing more of this, and then the next year doing less of that.
You know, it, it, it's-- You never really know.
It's just a feel thing.
You know, once you start to get into that countdown, and you kinda see where your body is, and you think, "Oh, I might need a little bit more of this," or, "I might tone back.
I'm strong enough.
I'm not strong enough," you know.
So, I'd be lying if seriously I'm, I do the same thing every off-season, 'cause I don't, but, you know, similar.
Much of the importance of the bounce back season after twenty-four.
For, for you, when you're trying to do the calculus of how much longer you wanna play, how important was it to have that bounce back season and then to see the team kind of again reinvest in veterans who can help you win now?
Yeah, I think that was really important.
It's really important.
Like I said, I don't think it would've made me retire anyway, but it definitely, it definitely lights a fire, and it, and it really nice that, you know, that, that feeling that you had when we were going to NFC championship games, we're going into Philly and winning a playoff game like that, that does feel really good, and it, it does give you something to look forward to.
Also on that with veteran experience, you guys bring in Mike Evans.
You know, what was kinda your take on bringing in Mi-Mike Evans and then bringing back Drake Riddock?
Man, huge.
First off, Mike Evans is a Hall of Fame player, and, you know, you don't find too many players that while they're still playing, you can confidently say they're gonna be a Hall of Fame player.
So having, having one of them on our team, another one on our team, so to say that, I mean, it, it means a lot.
I mean, he, his, his presence, just what he's done over the years, like, you know, that's-- it's hard for a lot of kids, not, like younger guys, not to fan girl over a guy like that when you, you know.
And, even myself, I watched him from afar, where we trained together early in his career, and I worked out a few times.
So I've, I've known him for, you know, the duration of his career.
But just to watch his success over the years and watch how, you know, he's been a consistent talent in this league and, you know, breaking the records.
I think he tied Jerry Rice.
Like, he just did some, did a lot of things that, probably gonna be a lot of one-offs.
And, so just to have him in the building, to see how he's out there running around, to see, you know, coach put him up on the big board today just, I mean, in OTA in year, what, thirteen, fourteen, like taking it as serious as he did, it just, it's a That to me is a, is an example of why he is who he is.
And, you know, to piggyback off that, just having Dre back, I mean, that's a brother, you know, that's one of our brothers, and it sucks seeing him in the, in the orange last year.
But, you know, it's family.
You got unconditional love.
So just seeing him come back, having him in that locker room, just having that presence, that, that grit, that toughness he bring in, you know, it's like having Batman and Robin back.
Like him and Fred is just, you know, two of the best linebackers in the league, and we're just so lucky to have both of them in the same room.
If I put Mike Evans on the big board, but I don't, so can you explain- On the screen, you know, team meeting, watch everybody looking at the same screen.
Yeah.
Few more on the right here.
Yeah, we, we've heard maybe some grumbling maybe from your head coach about Australia.
That is the Rams takes away the short trip to LA.
any thoughts about that, Trent?
That it's starting off in Australia, and it, it's the Rams you're playing.
I mean, it took away a home game, in my opinion.
it's probably the only thing.
It's probably why we had to go to Australia to play the Rams to kinda cover up some of the, you know, deficiencies when it comes to ticket sales on their end when we go to LA.
So I'll just leave it at that.
But no, nobody wants to travel twenty hours to play a football game.
Like, no, I mean, it's-- nobody ever be excited to do that.
All right, Jeff, the last one.
you, you had mentioned the resiliency of last year's team.
What, what would you hope for this year's team?
What, hallmark would you hope for them?
Resiliency last year, this year is what?
I would hope that we don't have to show how resilient we are.
I hope that we can show how dominant we are and how dominant we can be and how dominant we should be.
And, you know, with the off-season we've had, the players we've added, I think we, we got a good chance to go out there and show that.
But, you know, yeah, showing that you can fight through adversity is always good, and that's something that you take pride in.
But nobody wants adversity, right?
So hopefully, we don't gotta fight through all those injuries and stuff, and hopefully, we can just kinda, you know, be the team that we know we are.
