KC Chiefs: Trent Williams at left tackle would be nice, but keep dreaming
The KC Chiefs don’t have a left tackle for the 2021 season and Trent Williams is the best option in free agency by a mile. Unfortunately, Williams coming to KC doesn’t seem likely.
Releasing both Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz wasn’t a surprise, but it definitely puts the Kansas City Chiefs in a tricky spot moving forward. They’re now without their starting tackles and forced to find new ones through free agency and/or the draft.
The best option in free agency is easily Trent Williams, who spent the 2020 season with the 49ers after playing for Washington for the first nine years of his career. Williams is an eight-time Pro Bowler and is a popular name in free agency for that reason. The guy is an animal along the offensive line and teams want him protecting their quarterback’s blind side for the foreseeable future.
With the Chiefs releasing Fisher, they’re now in a situation where they don’t have a left tackle. Considering how much money they have invested in Patrick Mahomes, not having a left tackle is a problem. Fisher wasn’t great, but he was a serviceable player and did a nice job protecting Mahomes for the most part.
The Chiefs’ most likely in-house option to replace Fisher would be 2020 third-round pick Lucas Niang, who opted out of what would be his true rookie year in 2020. Not seeing Niang in action this past year definitely makes it trickier to commit to if he’s the right man for the left tackle job or not, but the front office has confidence in him.
The KC Chiefs’ offensive line would go from a weakness to a strength with Trent Williams in town.
The best possible option to replace Fisher would definitely be Williams. He’s the best name available in free agency and would instantly shore up the left side of the line for KC. The problem is that Williams isn’t going to take a hometown discount like Mahomes or Chris Jones did because he’s never played for this organization and he’s chasing a big payday.
For some guys, getting paid is the most important part of their career and why shouldn’t it be? They put their bodies on the line every week and they can’t play football forever, so why not go out there and get a big paycheck? If Williams decides, however, that he’d like the best possible shot at playing in a Super Bowl and winning a ring, there’s no better landing spot for him than Kansas City.
He said he wants to be back, but Trent Williams likely making it to the open market isn't being talked about enough. Still one of the best in the league at a prime position. He smartly put a clause in his deal that SF can't use the franchise tag.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 7, 2021
Highest paid T is $23M per year.
Unfortunately, if Williams is chasing the money, the Chiefs won’t be able to afford his services. Spotrac projects his market value to be a three-year deal worth $54 million with an annual salary of $18.2 million. That’s a lot of money to give to a guy who will be 33 years when the season starts and will finish that contract at 36 years old.
Also, Williams has made it pretty clear that he wants to stay with San Francisco, where he played in 14 games this year and played well. If his family likes it in San Francisco and Williams is happy with whatever they offer him, staying there makes perfect sense.
Next. Mock Draft: Chiefs Find Left Tackle of Future. dark
Having Trent Williams in Kansas City would be great, but I’m not going to get my hopes up. If the Chiefs truly believe in Niang, he’s likely going to earn one of the starting tackle spots for the 2021 season and hopefully, the team makes a splash in acquiring the other starting tackle because as we saw in the Super Bowl, a good offensive line is a big key to winning games.