49ers’ Williams reveals how much longer he wants to play in NFL originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Trent Williams is entering his 15th NFL season, but the 49ers star left tackle isn’t thinking about retirement any time soon after agreeing to a lucrative contract restructure Tuesday.
Williams, 36, is under contract in San Francisco through the 2026 NFL season when he will be 38 years old.
However, Williams plans on playing in the NFL beyond the life of his current contract with the 49ers, with his focus remaining on how he can continue elevating his game as he continues into his second decade in the league.
“Obviously this deal is done, get it out the way. How I’ve always conducted myself after signing a deal, I’ve never thought about what I signed for, I thought about what I could get next,” Williams told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “How can I prove that I’m worth that, how can I prove that I’m worth more. It kind of goes right back to that, getting this deal out the way. I want to play when I’m 40.
“I [saw Andrew Whitworth] win a Super Bowl at 41 or 42. It’s like, ‘Why not me?’ Who knows if you’ll get compensated at the top of your position at the age of 40. But, I don’t think that matters to me. If I can still be out there — I just want to continue to knock barriers down.”
Williams revealed that retirement was something he never considered during the offseason leading into a prolonged contract holdout while negotiating a new deal with San Francisco.
“No, no,” Williams said. “This offseason to me has been very, very productive. Obviously, not in a football sense, but in a getting ready for football sense. Like, my training, just at age 36, just finding different ways to try to continue to get one percent better … I felt really good coming off this offseason, to put it like that.”
Williams also shared that his time away from the 49ers made him realize how much he missed being around football and more importantly, his teammates.
“It lets me know I’m still hungry. I still miss the game,” Williams said. “Staying there in a depression having to get up and watch “Around The League” go to every training camp. Watching these joint practices, watching the preseason. You think of a kid who isn’t able to go out for recess and got to watch everybody through the window. It was some really up and down times. There was times where I didn’t really know if it was worth it. Times where I just needed that camaraderie. I wanted to see my boys, I hadn’t seen them in a long time.”
After the return of Williams and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco is primed for another strong season as the 49ers seek to maintain their status among the NFL’s elite.
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