The San Francisco 49ers have a problem brewing with two weeks to go until their regular season opener.
Their contract negotiations with left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk have now continued all the way through the conclusion of training camp and the preseason. For the first time since Williams’ holdout and Aiyuk’s hold-in, the reality of potentially missing one or both for the regular season opener has started to settle in.
So what happens if one or both players are not in uniform for the 49ers’ Week 1 showdown with the New York Jets on Monday Night Football?
From a football perspective there’s disaster potential. Williams was injured early in Week 6 last year, then missed Weeks 7 and 8. The 49ers lost all three of those games and averaged only 17 points while their run game sputtered.
It would be easier to replace Aiyuk for a week or two, but their passing attack looks much less dynamic without him lining up across from Deebo Samuel.
Contractually, both players would stand to lose significant money by missing regular season contests. Williams has already accrued fines of $50,000 per day for missing training camp. Those fines can’t be waived. Aiyuk avoided his $40,000 daily fines by reporting to camp.
Once players start missing regular season games is when the fines really start stacking up. At that point they start missing out on game checks, which amount to 1/18th of their base salary. For Williams that would mean missing out on more than $1 million per game thanks to a $20,050,000 base salary. Aiyuk would be missing out on a little less than $1 million per game with a $14,124,000 base salary.
Those fines and missed game checks may be enough to push Aiyuk and Williams back onto the field. However, they could dig in for even longer if they’re okay with the financial hits.
Players must be on the 53-man roster (or on IR) for a minimum of six games to accrue a full season. For Aiyuk this matters a lot. He could conceivably continue holding in until Week 13, which would allow him to accrue a full season to hit free agency next year. If he doesn’t accrue a full season he enters next offseason in the same place he’s in now.
Full season accrual matters less for Williams, who is under contract through the 2026 season and currently seeking a new deal that would put guaranteed money on his deal.
The good news for the 49ers is things don’t appear to be trending toward players missing regular-season games. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has been in contact with Williams, and Aiyuk traveled with the team to their preseason finale in Las Vegas. It may not be easy hammering out their contract negotiations, but things seem amicable enough that the two sides will figure something out by the time Week 1 rolls around.
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