NFC Notes: Trent Williams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

While it remains to be seen if the team will move on from LT Trent Williams, 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters that he believes the two sides will work things out. Williams is set to have a cap number of nearly $47 million after San Francisco declined his $10 million roster bonus last week and may need to have his deal restructured to stay with the Niners.

“No updates from me,” Shanahan told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “I actually stay pretty much out of that. I know John and everyone is working hard to do that. I believe we will get that done. We love Trent too much and eventually that will work out.”

Rams

Seahawks 

The Seahawks officially inked WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba to his four-year, $168.6 million contract extension. Seattle HC Mike Macdonald called the receiver a “foundational piece” of their organization. 

“One of the great things that paints a great picture about what Jax means to us being a foundational piece of our football team and our organization is we’ve got a full house here,” Macdonald said, via John Boyle of the team’s site. “This is pretty awesome. We’ve got dang near the whole Seattle Seahawks organization supporting Jax on this day. I just want to emphasize how excited we are. He’s going to be here and he’s a foundational piece, he’s a cornerstone of our team. Just being able to see his growth over the two years that we’ve been here. I mean, the sky’s the limit. This is the beginning. This is another iteration of our football team, and Jax is obviously going to be a huge part of it and where we want to go and where we want to take our team, and I know it’s early in his career, but he’s already a leader on our team and will be for a long time. So we’re really excited.”

Seahawks GM John Schneider reflected on landing Smith-Njigba at No. 20 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, saying he thought there would be “no way” that he would fall to them. 

“I just remember we were so blessed that he was there at 20,” Schneider said. “I remember being at the Pro Day that day and we were like, there’s no way we’re going to (draft him)—why are we meeting with this guy? … (The first-round wait) took forever. I remember I was probably driving (vice president of player personnel) Trent (Kirchner) and (vice president/player acquisition) Matt Berry and (assistant general manager) Nolan (Teasley), those guys, probably driving those guys crazy. Do we go up? Should we go up? Should we go for him? Like, you get a little itchy. But we had just kind of studied, ‘OK where, how?’ And it literally felt like three hours or something. Changed my shirt a couple times.”

Macdonald thinks Smith-Njigba’s humility is rare for a player of his quality. 

“I think it’s unique to see that type of dominating performance on a consistent basis but also the humility,” Macdonald said. “What Jax was saying, his servant leadership that he provides to our team—he’s not the guy that’s breaking every huddle, every team meeting and everything like that, but what he does every day, what type of teammate he is, to the guys in that locker room, I mean, that speaks volumes, and that’s where he does his talking.”

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