Talk about getting a good value. The San Francisco 49ers were hit with a bit of a pre-draft surprise last week when offensive tackle Joe Staley announced his retirement. Instead of looking for a replacement in the draft, and potentially throwing a rookie, like Colton McKivitz, into the competition to start, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan opted to seek a veteran via a trade.
That ended up being seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams. The 49ers sent a fifth-round pick this year and a third from next year's draft to Washington in exchange for the veteran with nine years of NFL experience. So, essentially, San Francisco replaced a Pro Bowl tackle with another Pro Bowl tackle, and hopefully, won't skip a beat headed into the 2020 season.
Everything worked out perfectly for the 49ers, who seemingly received one of the best in the game at a steep discount. It was a good value. It turns out, it was a very good value, according to the new head coach in Washington, Ron Rivera. It wasn't too long ago that Washington could have received much more for Williams.
Ron Rivera just told @kevinsheehanDC on @Team980 that the #Redskins could have traded Trent Williams for a first-round pick at the NFL Trade Deadline last October. Damn you Brucifer!
— Al Galdi (@AlGaldi) April 29, 2020
"I know this much: There was an opportunity, from what I was told, that last year just before the trade deadline, he was worth a first-round pick, but for whatever reason, the deal was never done," Rivera said Wednesday on The Kevin Sheehan Show on Team 980. "But because he didn't play for the year, somehow that number changed."
Of course, that was before Rivera's time with Washington. He was hired to be the team's new head coach on January 1 and inherited Williams, who clearly didn't want to be there.
Understandably, Staley's decision wasn't publicly announced until after the trade was complete. Had Rivera known about the 49ers' need, he may have been able to raise his asking price.
Rivera said that part of the evaluation process upon joining Washington was to find out which players wanted to be there, and it might be best to move on from those who didn't. Still, Rivera had no intention of giving Williams away "in a yard sale." Washington placed a certain value on him, and apparently, the 49ers were able to meet its asking price.
"He's still that kind of player, he still has that skillset, and he's a guy that's gonna go to San Francisco and should play well for them," Rivera continued. "But again, he's a guy that we moved from. Looking forward to the guys we have on our squad, a group of young guys that we believe are going to compete against each other, and the best guy's going to play for us. It's just that simple."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rivera below. The portion about Williams begins at about the 24:20 mark.
Williams received praise on Tuesday from the man he is replacing, Staley.
"I couldn't be more excited for Trent to be with the Niners now," Staley told reporters via a video conference call, "just knowing that a player with his ability is going to take over that left side, and hopefully not miss a beat at all. He's a tremendous player."
H/t to Patrick Tulini for the find.