The 49ers replaced a retired six-time Pro Bowl left tackle with a seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle, and all it took was a third-round draft pick and fifth-round draft pick. That's a steal.
And acquiring Trent Williams cost much more, not too long ago.
"Well 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," Washington coach Ron Rivera said Wednesday morning on "The Kevin Sheehan Show." "But because he didn't play for the year, somehow that number changed."
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Rivera wasn't with Washington last year. He was fired by the Carolina Panthers in December, and hired by Washington less than one month later on Jan. 1.
It's clear Rivera wishes Williams still was worth a first-round pick on the trade market, and believes he'll play well for the 49ers.
"He's still that kind of player," Rivera said. "He still has that skill set. And he's a guy that's gonna go to San Francisco and should play well for them."
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Williams didn’t suit up in any games last year while working through a holdout and the removal of a cancerous growth on his skull. Prior to that, he made the Pro Bowl every year from 2012 through 2018.
Rivera went into great detail on why it took so long for Washington to fulfill Williams' wishes and trade the star left tackle. In the end, they felt getting two draft picks from the 49ers was the best offer they could accept at the time.
"It was really about value," Rivera said. "We had set what we thought was the right type of value for who he is as a football player. He's a dynamic left tackle, a guy who's got good years left and some of the teams we talked to knew that. But we weren't gonna give him away in a yard sale. This is a guy we just felt we deserved more for, and we held out for the right deal.
"We had a couple that fell through. There was a little too much give we felt on our part to move him because of his value. Again, he's a quality football player. But again, when it's time to make that move we were gonna hold on and make sure we got something worth it. You don't give away good players, that's just the way it is.
"No matter the situation or the circumstances or how contentious they got, we were gonna stick true to what we believed and we tried and we tried and we waited and we waited. We were gonna be patient, and that much we did.
"When it was time to make the move and pull the trigger and send him on his way, we were able to do that."
[RELATED: Joe Staley happy 49ers got Trent Williams trade done]
Replacing Joe Staley with Williams is a dream for the 49ers, even if he's on a one-year contract. The two sides are taking a wait-and-see approach on his future in San Francisco, however, it's clear he helps the Niners remain Super Bowl contenders for next season.