49ers’ game review: Trent Williams and the importance of a playoff bye (paywall)
“What kind of physical toll does a season exact on Williams at this stage of his career? Last year, two days after the NFC Championship Game, Williams was so weary that he declined to officially declare that he’d return in 2023.
“Having two long seasons back-to-back, it does get pretty grueling for a 34-year-old guy like myself,” Williams said at the time. “You do kind of think about what’s life like after football … You do get to that age, especially at the end of a year like this, as exhausting as it was.