Tag: Trent Williams

Spielman on not trading for Williams: ‘We made the best decision for us’

The Vikings made the decision to address the left tackle spot through the draft rather than trade with Washington.

There was plenty of speculation that the Vikings would trade for Redskins left tackle Trent Williams over draft weekend.

It was the 49ers, not the Vikings, who made the deal to land Williams.

The Vikings ended up drafting Boise State tackle Ezra Cleveland in the second round. While Cleveland might not be as good as Williams, he comes with less risk and less financial committment.

Vikings GM Rick Spielman said given the circumstances, Minnesota was fine with how it played out.

“We made the best decision for us,” Spielman said via the Star Tribune. “He ended up in San Francisco, and we ended up with a tackle we really like in the draft.”

Cleveland will end up competing with Riley Reiff for the starting left tackle spot. Williams might have been a better “win now” player, but the Vikings were able to save draft capital and money by staying in house.

Of course, if Cleveland ends up being a bust and Williams is an All-Pro in San Francisco, we’ll be looking at this a bit differently in a few months.

Broncos weren’t involved in Trent Williams trade talks

The Broncos opted against trying to trade for left tackle Trent Williams.

The Redskins listened to trade offers for left tackle Trent Williams during the draft and ultimately decided to trade him to the 49ers in exchange for third- and fifth-round draft picks.

During a post-draft Zoom conference call with reporters, Broncos general manager John Elway said Denver needs “to get better” at left tackle but did not talk with Washington about potentially trading for Williams.

“No, we did not talk to them,” Elway said. “We had heard what was going on, but we also had heard what the compensation was.

“I think Tampa was in on it, Cleveland, several other teams were in on it, but where the compensation was, we didn’t feel like it was something that we wanted to get involved in.”

The Broncos also didn’t draft a tackle so as of now, Garett Bolles and Elijah Wilkinson are set to compete for the team’s starting left tackle job.

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Report: Rams were in on Trent Williams, would’ve moved him to guard

The Rams tried to trade for Trent Williams but were never close to landing him.

The Los Angeles Rams may have ignored their offensive line until the seventh round of the draft, but that didn’t mean they weren’t interested in improving it. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Rams were in the mix for Trent Williams before the Redskins traded him to the 49ers for a third- and fifth-round pick.

Garafolo said it was never really close to happening, but Sean McVay was interested in reuniting with the seven-time Pro Bowler and moving him to guard.

As you can see in the above tweet, McVay wasn’t exactly thrilled about the Rams’ rival 49ers landing Williams. McVay was with the Redskins for seven years from 2010-2016, so he got an up-close look at Williams and knows his ability.

The Rams do already have Andrew Whitworth holding down the blindside and he just signed a three-year extension, but guard is one of the weakest spots on the roster. Joseph Noteboom was shaky last season before getting hurt, Austin Blythe may have to play center and neither David Edwards nor Austin Corbett were that great late in the year.

Williams would’ve solved a lot of problems for L.A., but only in the short-term. He’s only under contract through 2020 and will command a large contract next offseason in free agency. The Rams would’ve had a hard time finding the cap space to extend him, which was likely the biggest hurdle in any trade scenario.

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Chargers never inquired into trading for OT Trent Williams

The Los Angeles Chargers are content with the in-house options.

Offensive tackle Trent Williams found his new home on Saturday after being shipped from the Redskins to the 49ers in exchange for third and fifth-round selections.

The Chargers had been mentioned as a potential destination for the 31-year old tackle, but it appears that they never had interest in him after all.

According to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, general manager Tom Telesco, Los Angeles never inquired into Williams.

After the compensation was announced for Williams, the majority of the fanbase was scratching their heads knowing that it ultimately didn’t cost San Francisco that much to acquire the seven-time Pro Bowler.

Williams was wanted by most because they felt like he would fill a position that still has a question mark over it. Telesco reiterated that he is comfortable with the in-house options after L.A. didn’t draft a single offensive lineman.

If the Chargers don’t address the position in free agency, they will go into the season with a competition between Trey Pipkins, Sam Tevi, Storm Norton and possibly Forrest Lamp for the starting left tackle job.

Redskins’ LT Saahdiq Charles says he’s watched Trent Williams film ‘millions of times’

The Redskins drafted Saahdiq Charles to eventually become a replacement for Trent Williams, which is something he feels confident he can do.

In a matter of minutes on Saturday afternoon, the Washington Redskins saw their veteran left tackle walk out the door, only to make room for their newest LT to enter.

It was announced that Trent Williams was traded to the San Francisco 49ers just as Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft was kicking off, giving the Redskins a fifth-round pick later in the day, as well as a third-round pick in 2021. Just minutes later, with their first pick in the fourth round, the Redskins selected Saahdiq Charles, an OT from LSU, seemingly a future replacement for Williams.

He may not be ready to start right away in his rookie year — few LTs are — but Charles is confident that he has what it takes to eventually fill the shoes that Williams left open in Washington. He has some experience of what a challenge that will be.

“Growing up as an offensive lineman, I watched Trent’s film millions of times,” Charles said via NBC Sports Washington. “I have a lot of respect for his game.”

While it may be a big challenge to eventually replace Williams, Charles will also have to overcome a few reported disciplinary issues that he struggled with in college, leading to a multi-game suspension at one point. We don’t know exactly what happened, but from what we’ve seen circling around the internet, it was due to bad grades and a failed drug test. Charles later described them as “dumb and boneheaded mistakes.”

If these issues don’t pop up in the NFL, then the Redskins got a real steal in Charles, who some had graded as a second-round talent who only dropped because of the reported character issues. Now that he’s on a new team, the path to realizing his potential in the NFL is right in front of him.

“They traded [Williams] and picked me, it just shows what they might have in mind for me,” Charles said. “I’m gonna come in there [work hard] and do my thing.”

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Adrian Peterson says he wishes Redskins got more in Trent Williams trade

Both Trent Williams and the Redskins can now start fresh going forward, but it’s fair to wish Washington got more in return for him.

Now that the dust has started to settle on the 2020 NFL Draft and the trade that sent Trent Williams away from Washington at long last, it’s normal to start formulating a lasting opinion on the situation.

Many are probably happy that Williams is gone, feeling relieved that the long and messy saga is over, leaving both sides to start fresh going forward and become their best selves. Others are probably still frustrated that the Redskins only received two mid-round picks in return for him, which is far and away less than he is worth in a vacuum.

That’s pretty much how Redskins running back Adrian Peterson is feeling at this moment, being a close friend to Williams. He knows it’s for the better that Trent is gone, but he isn’t quite thrilled with how it all played out.

“It worked out,” Peterson said on the Redskins post-draft live stream. “You know, obviously, the things between Trent and the organization weren’t where it needed to be. But, you know, I wish we could have got more for him.”

That’s an accurate representation of how many Redskins fans feel on Sunday, and it likely won’t change going forward any time soon. There are some benefits from the trade finally taking place — Williams is now on a playoff-contending team, and the Redskins can now start fresh with a locker room full of players who wish to be there. But in the end, there will always be some hard feelings on both sides, wonder what could have been.

“He’ll be happy in San Francisco,” Peterson said. “But I know I’ll miss him down there.”

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It’s time to say goodbye to Trent Williams and focus on the future in Washington

With Trent Williams finally on a new team, and the Redskins able to move on at long last, it’s comforting to know both sides are better off.

In the minutes after the 2020 NFL Draft had come to a close, and media members were tossing out questions on a private Zoom video call, Wahington Redskins VP of Player Personnel Kyle Smith let some grief off of his chest when asked to comment on the Trent Williams trade that landed the former Redskin with the San Francisco 49ers earlier in the day.

“I can’t wait to stop talking about it,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to stop hearing about it.”

He may have said it, but every single one of us was thinking it.

While the Redskins completed another highly successful draft on Saturday evening, another era had come to an end just hours prior. The years of Trent Williams in Washington are behind us once and for all. Thank God.

I don’t mean that as a slight to Williams; he is a great person, a great teammate, and a great player, and we wish him the utmost success with the 49ers in the future. But this saga has dragged on for more than a year now, and it was mercifully put to rest on Saturday morning when the trade was announced. Now we can all work on moving past it.

And that’s what we need to collectively do as a fanbase. There, of course, will be stories of Williams’ move that come up over the next few days, or weeks, or months, and I’m sure both sides will get their parting shots in as the divorce is finalized — that is to be expected when two sides break up after such a long relationship where feelings ran high and passion was intense at times. Both the Redskins and Trent cared deeply about one another, and I’m sure everyone is a bit disappointed a happier ending couldn’t be rectified at some point during this whole thing.

In the end, it’s hard to argue that both sides of the break-up aren’t better off. In the short term, it’s easy to see that the 49ers are the winners in all of this, as they got a superstar player in Williams for the low price of a third- and fifth-round pick, but both the Redskins and Trent have a lot to gain here as well. They both lost a lot through this all too. For Trent, he ended up sitting out the entire 2019 season and kissing $13 million goodbye for nothing — he will reportedly play out the rest of his contract in San Fran. For the Redskins, they lost a potentially valuable year of growth for QB Dwayne Haskins, someone who would have surely benefited from Williams’ presence on the front line. That’s all behind us though, and while it may be frustrating to think about the time lost, try to promise yourself that you’ll think of the bright side in all of this.

For instance, the Redskins are now entering the 2020 season completely free of old drama tying them down. Quinton Dunbar is gone, Bruce Allen is gone, and now Trent Williams is gone. There are no longer players in the locker room who don’t wish to be there, and everyone in the building has bought into Ron Rivera’s plan. For Williams, he is finally on a legitimate playoff-contending team — one which made it to the Super Bowl last February — and he has a great chance to get that elusive ring before his career is over.

So with that in mind, we can be happy with how things have left off between Trent Williams and the Redskins. We may not love how they got here, or the fact that a goodbye was necessary in the first place, but we can at least go to sleep at night knowing that both sides ended up the better for a split in the end, and everyone is better off now than they were just 24 hours ago.

With the utmost sincerity, thank you for everything Trent. You will always live on as one of the best Redskins in franchise history.

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Rams head coach Sean McVay has funny response to Trent Williams trade

Sean McVay had a funny response when told about the 49ers trade for left tackle Trent Williams.

The 49ers made the NFL’s biggest splash on Day 3 of the draft when they traded a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick for Washington’s seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams.

The trade came as a precursor to Joe Staley’s retirement. With Williams in at left tackle, San Francisco’s offensive line should be at least as good as it was a season ago, and perhaps better. That’s not good news for the 49ers’ division rivals.

Rams head coach Sean McVay had a funny response to the trade when NFL Network’s Omar Ruiz asked him about the 49ers’ addition.

“Thanks for reminding me,” McVay said. “I need to go drink a couple of more beers.”

McVay is more than familiar with what Williams is capable of. The Rams’ head coach was in various coaching roles with Washington for seven seasons. His first year as an offensive assistant there was in Williams’ rookie year when the team made him the No. 4 overall pick. McVay went on to work as their offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016.

It’s worth noting that Williams, 31, didn’t play football last year while working through a holdout and the removal of a cancerous growth on his skull, so there’s some chance Williams isn’t back at Pro Bowl form right away. If he does make it back to peak form, McVay knows first hand how good he is, and he’s not excited to face him.

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49ers knew before draft Joe Staley was planning to retire

Joe Staley told the 49ers early that he was planning to retire, which gave them time to work out the Trent Williams trade.

After 13 years of leaving everything on the field for the 49ers, Joe Staley did them one last favor. The veteran left tackle told the club Monday before the draft he was planning on retiring according to general manager John Lynch in his post-draft video press conference.

Lynch in his Monday media session expressed optimism that Staley would return since he hadn’t heard differently from the 13-year veteran. Staley informed the club after Lynch spoke with the media Monday.

The move allowed the 49ers to set the wheels in motion for replacing Staley. They had an opportunity to select a top tackle with the No. 13 pick when Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs fell to them. Instead they traded back one spot and took South Carolina defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw. In the meantime, they worked on acquiring seven-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams from Washington.

It took a fifth-round pick in 2020 and a third-round selection in 2021 to pry the veteran left tackle away from his former club.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has a good relationship with Williams after working with him as Washington’s offensive coordinator for the first four years of Williams’ career. He said he had confidence they could make the move for Williams, which is why they passed on a tackle earlier in the draft.

The deal for Williams wasn’t something long in the works either. Lynch said talks began Monday once Staley informed the team he wouldn’t be back.

Williams was available for a trade after missing all of last season due to a holdout and then a non-football injury. He’d been seeking to get out of Washington after they failed to work out an extension for his deal that ends after the 2020 season. San Francisco never had real talks about Williams until Monday before the draft according to Lynch.

Now he has a new home in San Francisco where he’ll play out the final year of his contract. The 49ers didn’t rule out an extension after the 2020 campaign, but they’re still waiting to see how he performs after a year away from football.

Replacing Staley won’t be easy, but the fact he told the 49ers of his retirement ahead of time allowed them to take the necessary steps to replace him with another Pro Bowler who’s five years younger. Staley did a lot of remarkable things for San Francisco, and his last act as a member of the organization set them up well for life without him.

Quinton Dunbar congratulates Trent Williams for being ‘class act’ during trade saga

Both Dunbar and Williams are now away from the Redskins, and they’ll be sure to try and let Washington know what they’re missing out on.

It looks like former Washington Redskins cornerback Quinton Dunbar has some things to say about how the Trent Williams trade to the San Francisco 49ers went down on Saturday, posting a message to his Instagram story on Saturday afternoon.

In the post, Dunbar said that he was happy for Williams, who was traded for a third and fifth-round pick, and he complements Trent on always remaining a class act through the ordeal. Dunbar capped it off by encouraging Williams to join him in showing the Redskins what they’re missing out on.

Both Dunbar and Williams requested a trade from the Redskins in the past year, and both were traded to playoff-contending teams once it became clear that new coach Ron Rivera wasn’t willing to hand them new contract extension before they could prove their worth on his team.

Now, with both players out of Washington, and the Redskins able to start anew, everyone should be happy. Let the new era of Redskins football begin.

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