Trent Williams may not have claimed the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s latest tackle rankings, but the 49ers still have one of the NFL’s most respected blockers anchoring the left side.
ESPN’s annual survey of NFL executives, coaches and scouts placed the San Francisco star at No. 2 for 2026, behind Detroit’s Penei Sewell. The vote on Williams was all over the map, with support ranging from first place to completely unranked, a split that seems tied to one obvious factor: he’ll turn 38 in mid-July.
Even with that age question hanging over him, the production still jumps off the page. Williams finished 2025 with a 92.2% pass block win rate, and his 79.5% run block win rate was the best among the top-10 tackles and sixth-best overall, according to ESPN.
Not everyone sees his game slipping. One NFL coordinator said that "it takes him a while to get going early in the season, but he's still producing at a high level, while multiple scouts believe he's no longer the league's best tackle purely because of his age.
A different NFC defensive coach offered a sharper rebuttal. "I don't see a lot of drop-off - he still operates without the need for any help in pass protection, he still mauls people, he's still got light feet for his size, still has the capacity to dominate."
The ranking also lands after a spring in which Williams’ future in San Francisco was very much unsettled. The 49ers passed on a $10 million option bonus in March, then spent weeks in negotiations before striking a two-year, $50 million extension in April. That agreement included $37 million guaranteed and kept him tied to the franchise through the 2027 season, ending the standoff just days before the draft.
For San Francisco, the decision to keep him was about more than reputation. The numbers tell the story: the 49ers are 1-7 in eight games without Williams, but 31-9 in the 40 games he has played. That kind of split makes clear how central the four-time first-team All-Pro remains to Kyle Shanahan’s offense and Brock Purdy’s protection.
So while the top spot went elsewhere, Williams is still very much in the elite tier. And the 49ers made sure he’ll be there protecting Purdy’s blind side for at least the next two seasons.
In Other News...
49ers Could Be Headed For A Brutal Roster Cleanup After This Season
The 49ers are staring at the kind of cap crunch that tends to force hard choices, and the pressure is expected to hit hard after the 2026 season. With the roster already built around expensive core pieces, the front office could be staring at a cleanup that is less about tinkering and more about clearing space, especially if the team wants to keep reloading instead of settling for a slow decline.
Mac Jones, Christian Kirk, Demarcus Robinson, Jake Brendel and JiAyir Brown all sit in different spots on the roster, but each comes with a reason the 49ers may eventually move on. Jones still looks like a player whose best path is elsewhere, Kirk is on a short-term deal, Robinson has not given the club much reason to bet bigger, Brendels role is tied to a position the team may want to upgrade, and Browns uneven run has kept his future from feeling secure. [Read more 🡒]
49ers May Have A Real Chance To Fix Their Biggest Need
The 49ers have spent plenty of time looking for ways to sharpen the edges of their roster, and the conversation around that has drifted from the draft board to the trade market. Jerry Rice recently weighed in on how San Francisco should use Mike Evans, pointing to the value of simply trusting a big-bodied target in tight spaces, while Andrew Whitworth raised a different kind of caution by questioning how much confidence the 49ers really have when they invest premium draft capital in offensive tackles.
Now the more immediate roster question may be on the defensive side, where the 49ers are still viewed as needing another edge rusher to work alongside Nick Bosa. That has kept them tied to speculation around a possible Steelers trade, with the idea being that Pittsburgh could be open to moving a pass rusher if the right partner emerges. For San Francisco, it is the kind of opportunity that can change the shape of a defense quickly, even if the name attached to it has yet to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Aiyuk Exit Buzz Just Put 49ers Fans On Edge
Brandon Aiyuks name is back in the rumor mill, and this time the Dallas Cowboys are the team being tied to him as speculation around a possible trade keeps circulating. The chatter has enough traction to make 49ers fans pay attention, especially with the Polymarket App listing Dallas at a 21% chance to land the receiver, even if the idea still has plenty of hurdles in front of it.
Salary cap concerns are part of the equation, along with the obvious uncertainty around Aiyuks situation and contract status, which makes any move feel complicated rather than clean. If Dallas decides the price and risk are too steep, the Cowboys could simply pivot to other options, including rookie Ryan Flournoy, leaving the Aiyuk talk as another reminder that this situation is far from settled. [Read more 🡒]