'I'm still a competitor': 49ers' Trent Williams addresses NFL future

Trent Williams has been in the league for a long time, and that's especially true because he's an offensive lineman.

NFL fans have become a bit jaded when it comes to age, because Tom Brady won a Super Bowl at 43 years old. Aaron Rodgers is getting ready to play another season, and he'll turn 43 in December.

Williams is 37 years old, which is young compared to the two aforementioned legendary quarterbacks. Playing left tackle is a whole different beast, though. It's a lot more physical in the day-to-day, for one.

Williams is also not just any old left tackle. He's one of the best to do it in this generation of players. Originally selected by Washington with the fourth overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, Williams is heading into his 16th NFL season.

He's got 12 Pro Bowls and three All-Pro seasons to show for that. He's been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2020, and he's collected all three of those All-Pros in the past five seasons.

And yet, Father Time catches up with even the greatest of athletes. Some go out on top of the world. The NFL has a long history of beating up its greats and leaving them shells of their former selves by the time all is said and done, though.

"It's scary," Williams said on Wednesday, discussing the likely end of his career after he plays out his current two-year contract (h/t ESPN). "I'm toying between the idea of going until I can't no more and just leaving while I've still got some good product left and not getting ran out the league."

Trent Williams still has the juice to keep playing NFL football 

Williams mentioned that he has a daughter who was born just before he was drafted in 2010. She's grown up alongside his NFL career, but he admitted that he feels like, as a father, he missed much of her life.

Even with that moment of clarity, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive tackle isn't ready to talk about life after football just yet. He's under contract for 2026 and 2027 with the 49ers, but he's not calling this the last contract of his career...just yet.

"Obviously, I can't tell the future," Williams said. "I don't know. I'm still a competitor. It's hard not to compete when you can. So, we'll see."

Williams is at OTAs this week for the 49ers, and all he has left to do in his legendary career is win a Super Bowl ring.

He's with one of the best franchises in the league, so he'll have a chance to compete for one in 2026. The 49ers went 12-5 last season and made it to the NFC divisional round of the playoffs. In 2024, they went 6-11 and missed the playoffs, and Williams admitted that the good year in 2025 gave him a bit more juice to want to keep going.

"I always knew that I had a couple more years left in me," Williams said. "That did kind of revive that fun that you get addicted to when you're playing and winning."