Kawakami: Trent Williams is the 49ers’ 2025 outlier — and most irreplaceable presence

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You could say that the 49ers’ plausible Super Bowl window will remain open for as long as Trent Williams’ shoulders, arms, legs, and entire body can keep it from closing.

That won’t last too much longer. Judging by the seven games he missed at the end of last season, the 49ers’ 6-11 final record, Williams’ 37th birthday looming next month, and the fact that there is absolutely no heir apparent at left tackle, maybe this stage is actually already over.

But as long as Williams is wearing a 49ers jersey — and pummeling people while doing it — there’s at least a hypothetical chance that the offensive line can hold together, pass rushers won’t be able to pour in from Brock Purdy’s blind side, and the 49ers’ offense can be efficient enough to pile up victories. When Williams retires, you might not be able to say any of that.

Which is why it was such a big deal that Williams showed up for last week’s OTAs and Tuesday’s first of two minicamp practices, looking very lively in position work while letting Spencer Burford and others play his spot in team drills.

Yes, the 49ers “refreshed” their roster this offseason, as Williams put it, by discarding many of his friends. Yes, they’re younger, cheaper, and have fewer stars. But they’ve still got Williams, he still feels good about his level of play and the 49ers’ chances, and this offseason he was ready to make an extra commitment.

“As you see, my first time here at OTAs or being in an offseason program — first time probably in 10 years,” Williams said with a smile in his first media session since last winter.

“I’m going to do everything possible to play as long and put a good product of football out there. And when it’s not going my way, then I’ll know. I could play until I’m 41, who knows? That is a goal of mine. I’m definitely not going to retire with something left in the tank.”

In a lot of ways, Williams is the 49ers’ great 2025 outlier; they spent the first few weeks of the March movement period discarding expensive, older, injury-prone players and setting the stage to draft a slew of replacements. Then they extended three prime players they expect to carry them into the late-2020s — Purdy, Fred Warner, and George Kittle.

Williams currently has zero money guaranteed for next season. (He held out through training camp last year to get a guarantee for this season.) He’s definitely not in his prime. But he’s unique because even if he’s not at his best, he’s by far the 49ers’ best option at an extremely vital position. And to underline that, the 49ers once again didn’t draft a tackle this year — they haven’t drafted a tackle since they took Jaylon Moore in the fifth round in 2021, and they just lost Moore to free agency in March.

Teams show what they’re thinking by their actions — or, in this case, in the 49ers’ lack of action at left tackle. They’ve looked at resetting almost every part of the roster, but they’re still banking on Williams like they banked on him since they acquired him from Washington in an amazing trade in April 2020.

I asked Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday if he’s talked with Williams lately about his long-term plans — if that’s important for the 49ers to know as they build and rebuild their roster.

“No, I don’t think I need to know that, or we need to know that right now,” Shanahan said. “It’s stuff I talk to Trent about, not all the time, but every once in a while. But you take everything year by year.”

It’s Williams at left tackle, finishing up his Hall of Fame career. No 49ers options after that, really, especially after watching Moore sign with the Chiefs when his price tag got too high.

Williams, for his part, said he didn’t want to dwell on his long-term future this offseason. He wanted to heal up from the ankle injury that cost him the big chunk of last offseason and he wanted to be ready for 2025. And the 49ers just have to let Williams play it out the way he wants to.

But does he want some guaranteed money next season?

“No, it don’t concern me,” Williams said. “I’m taking everything one year at a time and I feel like if my play warrants more guaranteed or a new year or two on the deal or whatever, then I’m here for it. If not, then, you know, it might be time to sail on into the sunset. I understand what’s going on, but I’m at the point where I’m not looking. I’m just going day by day, whatever happens is going to happen.”

Deebo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward, Aaron Banks, Moore, and many others are gone. The 49ers won’t be the same. But they’ve brought in a bunch of young players and Williams said he loves the energy he’s felt since arriving at OTAs last week.

“You wouldn’t think this was a team that went 6-11 last year,” Williams said. “The confidence, the way the kids are flying around, new draft class to me looks like it has several steals, several great picks that are gonna contribute. I was really pleased to see how the confidence and how the atmosphere is coming back being around the guys for the first time last week.”

And Williams said he understood why the 49ers moved on from so many veterans last March.

“It sucks not to have those guys on the daily in the locker room,” Williams said. “They were such big, pivotal parts of our success. But that’s the nature of the league. When you’ve got to pay some guys a fortune, some guys gotta go. It’s unfortunate.”

Speaking of paying a fortune, here’s Williams on Purdy’s new, $265-million deal which will average $53 million a year once it kicks in next season:

“To me, it’s super, super fulfilling just to watch a guy like Brock. You talk about a Cinderella story, this is the epitome, going from making a few hundred thousand a year to making $50 million a year. It’s astronomical. And it couldn’t happen to a better guy. He is the guy for this team, he is the guy for this franchise. I mean, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s going to get another contract, he’s going to win a lot of football games.”

And on first-round pick Mykel Williams (no relation, of course), a huge defensive end who already is making an impression:

“As a player, obviously, he’s a mountain of a man. He’s a statue. To be that size, to have that frame, and to be that quick and that fluid in short areas, think he’s a guy that can play first and second down, stop the run, and then can play third down wherever you want him to play. He can play on the inside; he can play on the outside. He just has that genetic makeup to be a superstar at the defensive line. Now obviously it’s gotta happen on Sunday. I think he’s well capable of that. But from my first impression, that’s what it puts me in the mind of. … He’s going to make his name in this NFL.”