The San Francisco 49ers finally got the best of Patrick Mahomes. According to The Athletic, the quarterback was reportedly pushing hard for eight-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Williams to join his Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes sent text messages and made phone calls to Williams as free agency quickly approached.
"Mahomes grew up in East Texas, about 30 minutes from where Williams was raised," wrote Matt Barrows. "They know each other well, which was an added incentive."
Mahomes and the Chiefs nearly came close to pulling off the deal, too. In the end, it was likely Williams' fondness for the 49ers and his head coach, Kyle Shanahan, that won out.
"I think Kyle's system, it kind of puts me on display a little bit more than a lot of the other systems," Williams recently told former teammate Richard Sherman on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast. "... I think the difference is Kyle's system kind of puts that flashiness and athleticism on display more so than any other."
The veteran offensive lineman signed a six-year, $138.06 million deal to remain with San Francisco. The details of the contract were revealed on Thursday morning and reported on here by Kirk Larrabee. It's another Paraag Marathe special, offering some flexibility over the first two years before ballooning after that — yet still potentially being manageable by then.
San Francisco is only committed to the first three years at $60.75 million, with the option to commit to the remaining years and money by April 1, 2023.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell named the 49ers locking up Williams as his best NFL free-agency signing.
"The numbers at the end of the contract might just be for show -- and the deal isn't cheap by any measure -- but the 49ers locked in one of the most important players in football for years to come," wrote Barnwell. "It also frees them up to consider drafting a quarterback in the first round, which would then allow them to shed the cap space occupied by Jimmy Garoppolo and use it on other players."
OverTheCap.com estimates that the 49ers currently have $13,048,127 in salary-cap space as of Thursday morning. The number includes Williams' deal but does not yet include center Alex Mack's, which hasn't been made official.
Below are Williams' cap hits in each of the six years of his deal, per OverTheCap.com.
2022: $14.12 million
2023: $26.27 million
2024: $26.92 million
2025: $29.37 million
2026: $33.06 million
