NFC West Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers

New 49ers LT Trent Williams spoke to the media about joining the 49ers after finally receiving a long-awaited trade out of Washington. He mentioned that he is ready and willing to essentially play on a one-year, $12.5 million contract which is due to expire.

“Obviously there’s an incentive for me to play well,” Williams said, via Nick Wagoner. “I mean, they give up a third-rounder next year, they kind of invested in the deal as well. I think both parties are interested in something long term. I’m more than OK with kind of just getting my feet wet and just playing it out.”

• Despite the fact that the 49ers declined the fifth-year option for DL Solomon Thomas, Matt Maiocco writes that it doesn’t mean that he won’t play a significant role for the team beyond 2020 on a low-level contract that works into their salary cap situation. 

Cardinals

Cardinals RB Kenyan Drake made an appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio and spoke about receiving the franchise tag, as well as his hope to receive a long term deal that will keep in Arizona.

“With them tagging me, it wasn’t really a slap in the face or anything,” Drake said, via NBC Sports. “They wanted to get a gauge on my market and everything happened how it did. Signing the tag puts me in a pretty decent position from a financial standpoint, especially among my fellow running backs. I’m fortunate that they saw in me what I see in myself, hopefully, we can continue to work on a long-term deal in the future.”

Seahawks

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes that former first-round pick L.J. Collier will likely see a different role with the Seahawks defense this season which could see him playing at defensive tackle, especially on passing downs.

Seattle HC Pete Carroll mentioned what type of defense the team will likely display during the upcoming season.

“What happens in the third-down situations, when we move guys around some, you’ll see Rasheem (Green) and L.J. (Collier) will work inside, along with J. (Jarran) Reed. We think we have a nice mix in that regard. Those guys are developing pass rushers, and they’re learning their way and both have a lot of ability and a lot of upside to them. So, we can have some real fresh players coming in, with rotation. We have enough depth right now to move it around. But you have to look at the guys that play the 5-technique for us, the defensive ends, they are also considered inside rushers for us. We’ll have at least four guys to move in and out of there to keep a rotation going.”

• Condotta also adds that the Seahawks had a high opinion on DE Darrell Taylor, which is why they traded up to select him when other prospects such as LB Zack Baun and DE Curtis Weaver were still available.