49ers absolutely steal Trent Williams from the Redskins

The San Francisco 49ers struck a deal with the Washington Redskins to acquire left tackle Trent Williams, and got an absolute steal.

Trent Williams’ time with the Washington Redskins is finally over, with the San Francisco 49ers landing the Pro Bowl left tackle for a bargain price.

The 49ers dealt their fifth-round pick (No. 156 overall) and a third-round selection next year to take Williams to the Bay Area.

It is a move that will raise questions about the future of longtime left tackle Joe Staley, who still has two years left on his contract.

Staley battled injuries last season as the 49ers made it to Super Bowl LIV last season. Asked about the prospect of Staley returning, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco said he doubted it, according to KNBR.

If this is the end for Staley, then the 49ers could hardly ask for a better replacement.

Williams has long been one of the premier left tackles in the NFL but did not play for the Redskins last year due to a dispute with the team over how the franchise handled a medical situation in 2013 concerning a cancerous growth he had removed in 2019.

The Redskins had found it difficult to move Williams to this point, and the Niners are the beneficiaries of Washington’s apparent desperation to get something back for the veteran.

San Francisco, having not had a draft choice on day two, is now not scheduled to pick again in the 2020 draft until the sixth round.

However, that is unlikely to concern general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. If Williams is the same player he was prior to the 2019 season, they will have an elite blindside protector for Jimmy Garoppolo who will still only be 32 when the 2020 campaign starts.

Williams is a free agent in 2021 but, if the Niners can tie him to a new contract, the left tackle position will not be a concern for some time.

The Niners doing business with the Redskins had seemed unlikely due to the acrimonious circumstances in which Shanahan and his father Mike left Washington in 2013.

Despite the apparent poor relations between Shanahan and Redskins owner Dan Snyder, the two have managed to come to terms on a deal and there can be no mistake that is the 49ers who are the winners of the trade.