SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The stare-down and holdout are over. Trent Williams and the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a revised, three-year contract that moves the star left tackle up the positional salary rankings and guarantees him $48 million at signing.

“I didn’t think it would take this long, but it’s a tough business and this was a very complicated contract restructuring,” Williams said Tuesday at the team’s facility. “So it took time to get to the point where both parties felt like it was a win-win.”

The final structure isn’t quite available yet, but preliminary versions indicate the 49ers managed to free up more than $10 million in salary cap space in 2024. They’ve continued their strategy of aggressively creating short-term cap space so that unused money can be rolled over to future years, when spending is expected to increase significantly with a new contract for quarterback Brock Purdy.

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The 49ers suddenly have more than $60 million in salary cap space for 2024 thanks to Williams’ deal, a recently completed extension for receiver Brandon Aiyuk and Tuesday’s contract restructures for receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and defensive tackle Maliek Collins.

While most of that cap space will roll over into the 2025 season, it could also come in handy this season if the 49ers decide to take on a larger contract as part of an in-season trade.

Williams’ deal is worth $82.7 million over three seasons, according to his agency, Elite Loyalty Sports. It replaces the final three years of the six-year contract Williams signed with the 49ers in 2021. The new pact averages out to $27.6 million per year, putting Williams back in line with the NFL’s highest-paid tackles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tristan Wirfs and Detroit Lions’ Penei Sewell lead the market at around $28 million APY).

Breaking down the numbers 💸

It was an honor to give you economic advice and guide you on your journey.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY #eliteloyaltysports @OU_Football photo.twitter.com/VYc4Hs1kq7

— Elite Loyalty Sports (@eliteloyaltysp) September 3, 2024

The 49ers and Williams had to make a bid for an agreement, largely because Williams — though still playing at an elite level — is 36. But Williams was willing to stay out of the facility and pay more than $2 million in mandatory, unforgivable fines ($50,000 per day) to exert his leverage and regain a spot at the top of the market.

“For lack of a better word, it’s kind of like a war,” Williams said. “Both sides are going to lose a little blood, but you wave a white flag at the end, we sign a little peace treaty and we’re good.”

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Williams could face significantly more than $2 million in fines for the holdout. One source with knowledge of the matter said the figure could be closer to $4 million, given some uncertainty over whether Williams has technically re-signed with the 49ers in the manner of a standard contract extension or if he was already a free agent in 2021. The uncertainty comes down to timing, and if Williams is classified as the latter — the NFL and NFL Players Association will make that determination — he too could be subject to hefty fines for missing the 49ers’ preseason games.

But no matter how that’s measured, Williams will be better off financially. He was set to make a maximum of $20.8 million this season under his old contract. The first year’s cash flow of $27.7 million of this new deal far exceeds that, plus the maximum possible penalty. The 49ers accomplished this by giving Williams a $25.7 million signing bonus, prorated against the cap for five years, allowing the team to navigate its overstuffed books.

“The way I’ve always acted after signing a deal, I ask myself, ‘How can I prove that I’m worth this, worth even more?'” Williams said. “I want to play until I’m 40. I want us to win Super Bowls at 41, 42. Why not me?”

Williams said he never considered retirement and has begun his offseason workout regimen earlier than before. The deal will give Williams $358.8 million in career earnings, the most ever for a non-quarterback, and he’s motivated to make that happen so he can continue making similar history.

“I was under contract until I was 38, and it’s hard to ask someone to guarantee an eight-figure salary when I’m 38. I understand that; I understand both sides of it,” Williams said. “But deep down, I’m going to be the same player (at 38).

“I just want to continue to break down barriers. There’s not a lot of people that have played at an All-Pro level (at this age), outside of quarterback. I want to continue to show that this is a new era. … To me, it’s just more logs in the fire to prove that I can be something they’ve never seen before.”

Williams said he wants to play as long as he is productive.

“Father Time is undefeated, but you can still keep him at bay for a while,” Williams said. “I just want to play football. That’s all I’ve done since the second grade.”

That made it difficult for Williams to stay away from the 49ers’ training complex until Tuesday, when he arrived from Texas on his private jet just hours before practice.

“(The holdout) let me know that I’m still hungry,” Williams said. “I still miss the game. It was depressing to see everyone going through camp, practices together, preseason. You think about a kid not being able to go outside for recess and having to watch everyone through the window.”

Visual evidence of Trent Williams practicing… photo.twitter.com/v2lTOxUWAZ

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) September 3, 2024

Williams said he missed the camaraderie of the locker room and the chance to talk regularly with 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster, whom he considers a family member. He rattled off impressive performances by 49ers rookies he’d watched from afar. And Williams brought up his first interaction with receiver Ricky Pearsall, who was shot during an attempted robbery in downtown San Francisco on Saturday but — remarkably — has already returned to the team’s facility.

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49ers’ Ricky Pearsall wanted to assure his teammates he was okay, so he showed up for work

Williams met Pearsall in June when the veteran was in town for a day during the team’s spring minicamp. Williams said Pearsall went out of his way to introduce himself.

“I just felt this vibe right away,” Williams said. “(Pearsall) is such a genuine person.”

The interaction left a lasting impression on the veteran after he learned of the incident last weekend. He said it may have hastened the end of his ouster, which came just in time for the 49ers’ first exhibition game of the season.

“I felt more compelled to come back after that than anything,” Williams said. “I just wanted to be a voice in his ear to let him know that everything was going to be OK. I wanted to be there.”

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(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)