SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams isn't ready to call it a career just yet. But for the first time, he can see the end from here.
Williams, speaking to Bay Area media for the first time since signing a two-year, $50 million contract extension, was reflective Wednesday about where he is in his career and the family time missed since he entered the league in 2010, and was open about the likelihood that he will retire after two more seasons.
Asked whether he thought his latest extension was the final deal he'd sign, Williams confirmed that he did. Asked whether he envisioned his career being done at the end of those two years, he said, "Yeah, probably."
Williams then expounded on what the feeling was like when he put pen to paper on perhaps his final NFL contract.
"It's scary," Williams said. "I'm toying between the idea of going until I can't no more and just leaving while I've still got some good product left and not getting ran out the league.
"It's been a long time, and I have a daughter who was born a few months before I got drafted. I'm going on year 17. She's turning 17. As a father, you feel like, 'Dang, I kind of missed her whole life until adulthood.' ... She [will] go off to college in a couple years. I want to be there and be accessible, and I don't want to be that father that shadows the kid. I want to be close. You know what I mean? I want to be close. I don't want to be somewhere at a joint practice."
Williams did, however, stop just short of announcing a two-year retirement tour, leaving the door ajar for him to play beyond 2027.
"Obviously, I can't tell the future," Williams said. "I don't know. I'm still a competitor. It's hard not to compete when you can. So, we'll see."
In the midst of multiple contract disputes with the Niners, particularly as Williams has entered his mid and upper 30s (he turns 38 on July 19), he has long maintained a desire to play until he's 40. If he plays only the next two seasons, he will retire following his age 39 season.
But Williams also wants to consider the level he's playing at when making any decision about his future. In 2025, Williams still sat among the league's best at his position, earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. He has career totals of 12 Pro Bowls and five All-Pros. Should he land two more Pro Bowl nods, he will tie Bruce Matthews' record of 14.
"Hall of Famer, obviously, for what he's done for our team and for myself, and just as a young guy, coming into the league and having his leadership, I'm extremely grateful for that guy," quarterback Brock Purdy said in April. "More than anything, I know he's got a lot left in his tank. ... I know he's going to have a chip on his shoulder and to go out and get a ring for him, his résumé and his career, I want to help him do that."
From the outside, Williams' latest contract impasse with the Niners appeared to be contentious, but he said Wednesday that was not the case.
In March, San Francisco declined a $10 million option bonus that was due as the sides worked to find common ground on a reworked contract. Williams had been scheduled to enter the 2026 season with no guaranteed money or years left on his deal with a salary cap number of $38.84 million, including a base of $22.21 million.
Under terms of the reworked contract agreed to in April, Williams got $37 million fully guaranteed, including a $22 million signing bonus. According to his agency, Elite Loyalty Sports, Williams is the first non-quarterback to surpass $400 million in career earnings and $225 million in guarantees.
"It was a load off everybody's shoulders, but honestly this time around wasn't that stressful," Williams said. "Everything was kind of how I expected to go. Obviously, there was pushback a little bit on both sides, but for the most part we both knew what we wanted to do. We seen things pretty similar for the future, so it was pretty easy to get through it."
Williams reported for organized team activities this week after being the only player on the roster not to participate in some capacity (meetings, on field or rehab) last week. His arrival coincided with coach Kyle Shanahan canceling the team's full-squad minicamp originally scheduled for next week.
Now, Williams is looking forward to chasing the Super Bowl ring that he has said previously would be the icing on the cake of a likely Hall of Fame career. Not that Williams would have retired otherwise, but he said having a successful 2025 (the Niners went 12-5 and advanced to the NFC divisional round) after a brutal 2024 helped him look forward to playing more football.
"I always knew that I had a couple more years left in me," Williams said. "That did kind of revive that fun that you get addicted to when you're playing and winning."