The San Francisco 49ers could have been in a bind after Joe Staley's retirement. Instead, the team may have improved. That's because it replaced the Pro Bowl offensive tackle with another Pro Bowl offensive tackle in Trent Williams.
Williams was among several 49ers players who took part in this week's State of the Franchise event. He wanted out of Washington, and his most desired destination was San Francisco. The 49ers were able to pull off the trade during the third day of the draft, and Williams is grateful to be where he is now.
A lot of that has to do with the tackle's familiarity with the 49ers' head coach, Kyle Shanahan, and the scheme he runs, but that wasn't the only reason.
"I say this all the time: It was an attractive destination, not just because of Kyle and the quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo), of course, but they don't need me to win," Williams explained to Keiana Martin and Greg Papa. "I think that's pretty evident. They went to the biggest game that our league has last year without me on the roster.
"So, to me, it gives me the chance to come in and not feel like the world is on my shoulders, and I have to do everything. I'm just a small piece of the puzzle to a well-tuned machine. I look forward to that part."
Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington when Williams was made the No. 4 overall pick in 2010, and the two worked together for four seasons. The offensive tackle was asked about that relationship.
"Kyle, me and him had a real close relationship since I was a rookie, so we kind of cut our teeth together," Williams shared. "We learned that this business has some different aspects, but we learned it together.
"We just always had a real close relationship. Even when he left, when he went to Cleveland and Atlanta, we always kept in touch. We talked about reuniting the day he left his office in Washington, and it was spoken into existence."