Account
Trent Williams Rumors: KC Eyes 49ers' FA OT to Protect Patrick Mahomes
March 15, 2021
After releasing two starting offensive tackles last week, the Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly targeting the best free-agent left tackle to protect Patrick Mahomes.
Per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, front-office executives around the NFL "are convinced" that the Chiefs are a threat to sign Trent Williams away from the San Francisco 49ers.
NFL Network's James Palmer reported on Monday that Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones have restructured their contracts to give the Chiefs about $20 million in cap space to spend on free agents.
The Chiefs announced last week they released Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher. Schwartz had been their starting right tackle for the past five seasons, but a back injury caused him to miss the last 13 games of the 2020 season, including the playoffs.
Fisher was the No. 1 overall pick by Kansas City in the 2013 NFL draft. The two-time Pro Bowler appeared in 117 games over the past eight seasons. He was unavailable for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV after tearing his Achilles in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills.
After being acquired from the Washington Football Team in April 2020, Williams had one of the best seasons of his career with the 49ers. The 32-year-old was named to the Pro Bowl for the eighth time and was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded offensive tackle in 2020 (91.9).
Williams seemed to indicate he wanted to stay with San Francisco last week when responding to a prediction from Richard Sherman on Cris Collinsworth's podcast.
"Y'all barking up the right tree," Williams said when Sherman predicted he would re-sign with the 49ers.
Williams is expected to receive a significant contract this offseason, with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area noting he may be looking at a deal "in the neighborhood of $20 million a season."
The Chiefs have an obvious need for help on the offensive line after releasing Schwartz and Fisher. Starting center Austin Reiter is also an unrestricted free agent.
Kansas City's depleted offensive line played a significant role in the team losing Super Bowl LV. Mahomes was pressured on 29 of his 56 dropbacks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.