49ers

49ers LT Trent Williams believes that HC Kyle Shanahan should be Coach of the Year and always has faith in his football mind.

“While we were on that same sideline, I told him, ‘I don’t understand how you don’t win Coach of the Year,'” Williams said on The Pivot Podcast. “The fact that he made us competitive, that fact that we believed we could go win a Super Bowl, he made us believe, and it’s not because of what we had in the locker room, but it was because of what we had in our coach.”

“How he broke down the game, and how he just understood his team, and when to give days off, and when to push us through the times that we wanted days off. He has a keen understanding for how to treat a locker room and not sweating the small [expletive],” Williams continued. “Making sure everybody is accountable. Making sure we all play with that same intensity, and if you don’t, you’re going to get called out. He isn’t going to MF you in front of everybody. He’s going to do it in his own way. But it makes you fee like ‘Damn, I’m letting him down.’ Not so much where I’m going to do this for him. I’m going to do it because I don’t want to let him down. I know he’s put his everything into this. I know he trusts me with this. I want to pay him back by being productive and executing his game plan. That’s what he instills in us.”

“I tell people, me and Christian (McCaffrey) had the same conversation, I came here a 10-year vet,” Williams explained. “I learned more just in that 30-minute team meeting with Kyle breaking down the next opponent, I learned more football in that time than I did the previous 10 years. You can ask anybody. They’ll you the same thing… The way he breaks it down, it’s literally like something you’ve never seen. Down to how the cornerback, where his weight is.”The way he diagnoses football, I hate that everybody can’t witness it because then it wouldn’t be a question of who the best coach is in the league. Everybody would understand why. I hate that we’re the only ones that get to see that, but I could sit here and talk about Kyle all day. He’s like a brother to me.”

• Matt Zenitz reports that the 49ers are hiring Kent State OL coach Angel Matute.
• Dianna Russini reports that the 49ers, Bengals, and Colts were interested in signing DL John Franklin-Myers before he was locked up by the Titans.

Cardinals

• The Cardinals signed K Chad Ryland to a one-year, $1.85 million deal that includes $475,000 guaranteed, a $325,000 signing bonus, a $1.425 million salary with $150,000 guaranteed, and up to $750,000 in field goal percentage incentives, bringing the maximum value of the deal to $2.6 million. (Wilson)
• The Cardinals signed DE L.J. Collier to a one-year, $2 million deal that includes $750,000 guaranteed, a $350,000 signing bonus, a $1.265 million salary with $400,000 guaranteed, $20,000 per-game active roster bonuses, and up to $500,000 in playtime and sack incentives, bringing the maximum value of the deal to $2.5 million. (Wilson)
• The Cardinals signed WR Kendrick Bourne to a two-year, $10 million deal that includes $7.5 million guaranteed, a $4.5 million signing bonus, a $2 million fully guaranteed salary in 2026, a $2.38 million salary in 2027 with $1 million guaranteed for injury, skill, and cap if on the roster on the fifth day of the 2027 league year, $30,000 per-game active roster bonuses annually, and $1 million in annual catch and yardage incentives, bringing the maximum average annual value to $6 million. (Wilson)
• The Cardinals signed DT Roy Lopez to a two-year, $10.5 million deal that includes $7 million guaranteed, a $4 million signing bonus, a $2 million fully guaranteed salary in 2026, a $3.47 million salary in 2027 with $1 million guaranteed for injury at signing and skill/cap guarantees if on the roster on the fifth day of the 2027 league year, $20,000 per-game active roster bonuses annually, a $250,000 roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2027 league year, and $500,000 in annual playtime incentives, bringing the maximum average annual value to $5.75 million. (Wilson)
• According to Ben Volin, the Cardinals’ contract talks with QB Jimmy Garoppolo stalled, leading them to sign QB Gardner Minshew.

Rams

• The Rams signed S Kam Curl to a three-year, $36 million extension that includes $24 million guaranteed, a $5 million signing bonus, a fully guaranteed $4.5 million salary in 2026, an $11.6 million salary in 2027 with injury guarantees at signing and skill/cap guarantees at signing plus another $4.6 million guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year, a $7.925 million salary in 2028, annual $38,235 per-game active roster bonuses, a $1.5 million roster bonus on the third day after contract execution, a $3.425 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2028 league year, $1.5 million in playtime, team, and playoff incentives for 2027 and 2028, bringing the maximum average annual value to $13 million. (Wilson)
• The Rams signed CB Jaylen Watson to a deal worth $51 million that includes $34 million guaranteed, a $12.74 million signing bonus, a $2.25 million fully guaranteed salary in 2026, a $13.99 million salary in 2027 with $13 million guaranteed for injury and skill/cap at signing plus an additional $2.99 million guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year, a $4 million roster bonus on the third day of the 2027 league year, and annual $30,000 per-game active roster bonuses. (Wilson)