49ers' Trent Williams may have only two more seasons left. He has one goal
On Wednesday, Evans, the San Francisco 49ers' decorated, 32-year-old wide receiver, beamed like a 22-year-old rookie when a reporter relayed praise Williams had just offered during his preceding interview session.
"Trent said I'm a Hall of Famer?" Evans said, excitedly interrupting the reporter in mid-question. "OK, y'all heard that. A first-ballot Hall of Famer said that about me."
Since he was signed in March, Evans has been termed a future Hall of Famer by head coach Kyle Shanahan, quarterback Brock Purdy and general manager John Lynch, who actually is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But Williams, 37, the only offensive tackle in NFL history with 12 Pro Bowl berths, is in his own category. His words hit differently. And his news conference Wednesday, his first since January, had a different tone after many players this offseason had praised the resolve of last year's injury-riddled team that went 12-5 before losing 41-6 to the Seahawks in the divisional playoffs.
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Williams' message: Gutsiness is great. Now let's recapture our butt-kicking swagger after last year's profile in courage was preceded by a 6-11 season in 2024 that Williams termed a "s- show." The 49ers won their last NFC West titles in 2022 and 2023, and they currently have the eighth-best odds (plus-1800) to win the Super Bowl - behind the division rival Rams (first, plus-550) and Seahawks (fourth, plus-1100), the defending champions.
"I would hope that we don't have to show how resilient we are," Williams said. "I hope that we can show how dominant we are. And how dominant we can be. And how dominant we should be. And with the offseason we've had, the players we've added, I think we got a good chance to go out there and show that."
Williams' weighty words might have been delivered with even more urgency. He said Wednesday that he's leaning toward retiring after the 2027 season, meaning the 16-year veteran might have just two more shots to win his first Super Bowl.
On the surface, that's not surprising: Williams will be 39 after next season. However, he has also had a goal of playing until 2028, when he could become the seventh offensive lineman since 1925 to play in his 40s.
"It's scary," said Williams, who was a first-team All-Pro last season. "I'm toying between the idea of going until I can't go anymore and just leaving while I've still got some good product left and not getting run out of the league."
Williams acknowledged two more good-product seasons would make his decision harder: "It's hard not to compete when you can," he said. But he also shared that he's dealing with competing emotions. His oldest daughter is 16, and he wants to be "accessible" when she's in college after missing so many important chapters of her life. Williams' career began when Washington made him the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft, a few months after his daughter was born.
"I don't want to be that father that shadows the kid," Williams said. "… But I want to be close. I don't want to be somewhere at a joint practice."
Williams signed a two-year, $50 million contract extension with $37 million guaranteed in April that was preceded by reports that the 49ers could trade him due to their early offseason impasse. But Williams said his latest negotiation with the 49ers' front office wasn't "that stressful." In 2024, Williams held out beyond training camp before finalizing a reworked deal less than a week before the season opener.
"Obviously, there was pushback a little bit on both sides" this year, Williams said. "But for the most part we both knew what we wanted to do. We see things pretty similar for the future. So it was pretty easy to get through it."
Williams knows it will be hard to retire, whenever the time comes, but a Super Bowl title would make the exit easier. This week's let's-dominate battle cry was at least partly inspired by his desire that teammates hope to make a reality.
"I know he's going to have a chip on his shoulder and to go out and get a ring for him, (for) his résumé and (for) his career," Purdy said in April. "I want to help him do that."
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