Three important decisions 49ers must make before regular season

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFL and are coming off a third trip to at least the NFC Championship Game over the past four years. Despite all of that success this core group of players, along with head coach Kyle Shanahan, are still searching for a Super Bowl championship. Here are three decisions they might have to make before the start of the regular season that might help them get there. 

What will they do with Trent Williams’ contract?

Williams is not only one of the 49ers’ best players — and one of the best players in the NFL — he is also one of their most important players, locking down the left side of their offensive line. He is a central part of their dominant running game, he protects quarterback Brock Purdy’s blind side, and he has not yet made an appearance in training camp as he continues to hold out in the hopes of re-working his current contract. 

Even though he has three years remaining on his current deal, he has no guaranteed money remaining. His salary cap number goes from $10 million this season up to $34M next year and $37M the year after that. 

As great as he is, he is 36 years old and the 49ers have some significant contract issues to also deal with in the coming seasons, including potential massive raise for Purdy. How the 49ers handle this will be fascinating to watch. 

How will they handle the wide receiver position?

Williams is not the only contract issue the 49ers are trying to sort out.

Star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is also not participating in practice, but he has been with the team in what can best be described as a “hold-in” situation. He also wants a new deal, while his name has also been involved in trade rumors all offseason.

Will they give in and give him the money he wants? Will they trade him to somebody else who will? Or will they pay him and potentially trade Deebo Samuel somewhere else? Between Aiyuk, Samuel, Jauan Jennings and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall this is one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the league. But they still have some big decisions to make with it. 

Who starts at right guard?

In a perfect world with everybody in camp the 49ers would not have many open position competitions. One of the few that does exist is at right guard where veterans Spencer Burford, Jon Feliciano and rookie Dominick Puni are all competing for that spot.

Burford seems to have the inside track for the spot, but there is an argument to be made that Feliciano was the better player during the 2023 season. Puni also has some high upside that the 49ers will like. The offensive line might be one of the bigger questions the 49ers have, and right guard is one of the most unsettled positions.