The 49ers and left tackle Trent Williams have not come to agreement on a new contract and his cap number for the 2026 season is now reportedly due to get even bigger.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the 49ers will not exercise the $10 million option bonus in Williams’s contract ahead of Friday afternoon’s deadline. Passing on the option would push Williams’s cap number to nearly $47 million for the 2026 season.
Passing on the bonus leaves Williams with no guaranteed money in the final year of his current deal with the Niners. His base salary is set to be $22.21 million and the terms of the contract will likely look different if Williams is in a 49ers uniform come the fall.
Talks about a revised contract for Williams have not borne any fruit thus far. The inability to get something done has led to questions about whether the 49ers could cut or trade Williams before the 2026 season, but per Schefter’s report, they are still planning to work something out that results in Williams remaining with the club ahead of April’s draft.
Earlier this week, we broke down the details of the new Mike Evans contract, which pays a base value of $42.5 million over three years, with the first year ($14.3 million) fully guaranteed.
The contract does indeed include an incentives and escalators package that puts the total possible compensation above $20 million per year.
He can get up to $6 million per year under a formula that applies to 2026, 2027, and 2028.
Evans activates a 2027 escalator in four different $1.5 million increments based on the 2026 season. Evans gets $1.5 million if the 49ers make the playoffs and if he finishes in the top 10 in receptions. He gets $1.5 million if the 49ers make the playoffs and if he finishes in the top 10 in yards. He gets $1.5 million if the 49ers make the playoffs and if he finishes in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns.
The final $1.5 million comes from 2026 playoff success. He gets $500,000 per postseason win, if he played at least 75 percent of the snaps in the regular season and the playoffs, with a maximum of $1.5 million.
The same escalators apply to 2028, based on 2027 performance. Up to $6 million more can be paid out in the form of 2028 incentives, based on the same formula.
In 12 seasons, Evans has finished in the top 10 in receptions once. He finished in the top 10 in receiving yardage three times. He finished in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns seven times.
The Buccaneers wanted Mike Evans to return, hoping he would finish his career with the team. The wide receiver, though, was looking for a “new challenge,” according to Bucs General Manager Jason Licht.
Reports before Evans decided on his future indicated he was being offered $27 million per year. He signed a three-year, $42.5 million deal with the 49ers.
Licht said Wednesday that the Bucs offered more than the 49ers paid Evans.
“He means everything to me,” Licht said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, “but he means everything to the entire organization. Obviously, he’s the best offensive player we’ve ever had and an even better person than he is a player. So, it’s always tough. That one was really tough. . . . We made a significantly higher offer, and that was just the first offer.
“It became pretty clear that he and his family were just ready, like he said publicly, for another chapter. And ideally, of course, you’d want him to be a one-helmet player. But if you look back, there are several of those great players in that category. Dan Marino comes to mind, because I was there. You know, Barry Sanders and all of those. But then for everyone you name, there’s Jerry Rice, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Tom Brady that just at some point wanted another chapter. [Evans had] already established himself as the best player we’ve ever had on offense and 11 straight years with 1,000 yards, setting records. He won a Super Bowl. In my conversations with him, you know, we got emotional.”
Evans was frustrated by how last season ended without a playoff berth, Licht acknowledged, but the Bucs’ crowded receivers room played a bigger role in his departure. With Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson in Tampa, Evans would have had to share targets. In San Francisco, he is the clear No. 1 wideout.
“We all know [Evans is] not a selfish guy,” Licht said. “He loves his receiver room so much; he talked about it often how this is just going to give more opportunity for them all. You know, Chris, obviously, J-Mac, Emeka and Tez. He made some solid points. I wasn’t saying, ‘You’re right; go ahead.’ But I just think there’s such affection for those guys. I think that did weigh into it a little bit.”
In 2025, Evans failed to reach 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. He missed nine games with hamstring injuries and a broken collarbone and caught a career-low 30 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns.
He leaves Tampa with 866 receptions for 13,052 yards and 108 touchdowns, earning a spot in the team’s Ring of Honor once his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career ends.
“Mike gave us everything he had for his 12 seasons here and established himself as one of the best players in the league,” Licht said. “So, to say it again, he’s one of our best players we’ve ever had.
“I don’t feel betrayed. He earned the right. . . . Sometimes you think you’re just ready for another chapter. I think you’d have to ask the Patriots if they felt betrayed by Tom, the Colts for Peyton Manning. I mean, that was maybe a little different, but I don’t feel betrayed. I feel like we did everything we could. I had a lot of talks with Mike about that. I think he made a family decision. I think it was, you know, for them to have a new chapter. San Francisco is a very good team, so I don’t want to criticize his decision right now.”
The 49ers re-signed linebacker Garret Wallow to a one-year deal, the team announced Wednesday.
Wallow, 27, finished last season with the 49ers when they claimed him off waivers from the Broncos on Dec. 8. He appeared in four games and registered two tackles and two special teams tackles with San Francisco before starting both postseason contests and registering 12 tackles and one pass defensed.
Wallow entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick of the Texans in 2021.
In his five-year career with the Texans (2021-23), Titans (2023-24), Broncos (2025) and 49ers (2025), Wallow has appeared in 46 games with five starts. He has totaled 38 tackles, a sack and a pass defensed in addition to 13 special teams tackles.
Mike Evans’s long run with the Buccaneers ended when he signed with the 49ers as a free agent last week and Bucs General Manager Jason Licht shared his thoughts on the wideout’s departure on Wednesday.
In terms of Tampa’s interest in having Evans return for a 13th season, Licht said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, that “we had a verbal agreement that [Evans] could be here as long as he wants.” Licht said he felt the Bucs “did everything we could” before the wideout opted to sign with the Niners.
Licht added that there were no hard feelings about Evans deciding to move on and that he is “happy for Mike and happy he found a place he wants to be.”
“I don’t feel betrayed,” Licht said. “He earned the right to make the decision . . . he loves this team. He loves everything about it . . . I think he wanted a new challenge.”
Licht selected Emeka Egbuka in the first round of last year’s draft, so the Bucs were planning for the future of the wide receiver group while Evans was still in the building. Egbuka, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan will now make up the top of the team’s receiver group while Evans tries to find the same kind of success with his new club.
