The Trent Williams Situation - It’s Not a Contract Thing

So much has been made about the Trent Williams holdout situation with the Redskins. Many are saying that the star left tackle is holding out for more money(specifically guarantees on the final two years of his contract). Fans have been very vocal about their displeasure to this notion, saying he should honor his current contract, and in no way should the Redskins mortgage the future to pay a 31 year old “declining” left tackle. Instead, they would rather see the seven time Pro Bowler traded to the highest bidder.

Others feel that he deserves more money - specifically the guaranteed portion of his final two years; and maybe even an extension on top of that. Making him the highest paid tackle in the league for a brief period of time at age 31 isn’t all that bad, especially considering the Redskins are likely to have a rookie quarterback standing behind him sooner rather than later.

The frustrating part is that we have head nothing from Trent Williams or his camp yet on this issue. There have been “sources” who have taken stabs at what’s going on behind closed doors, but again, nothing from the man himself.

What we do have, however, are some individuals who are close to Trent giving us some small clues as to what’s happening.

DeAngelo Hall

Just this week, while live with NFL Network from Redskins training camp, Hall had this to say about the William’s situation:

When asked if Hall has talked to Trent, he replied:

“I have talked to him. He’s in a good place mentally, and he’s prepared to figure this thing out”

Hall was also asked if this was a contract thing:

“It’s not a contract thing and that’s what I asked him. And I’m sure he won’t mind me saying this - (Hall asks)hey Trent, what’s the end game? And, It’s not about money. Will money help ease things a little bit; maybe so, but this is not strictly a financial situation.”

On the Redskins training staff:

“we’ve never had a player say get that training staff out of here of I’m not coming back”

Morgan Moses

Moses took the podium during his press conference dressed in William’s number 71 jersey. He said he’s also spoke directly to Trent and shared this interesting comment:

“It’s about time someone like that stands up,” Moses said. “It’s not just a situation here; it happens throughout...”

So, reading into Moses comments, apparently Trent is not only standing up for himself, but also for his teammates and players throughout the entire league when it comes to team’s medical staffs and how they handle their players.

And finally, ESPN’s Louis Riddick weighed in on the matter, and got into it a bit with a fan:

Sick burn here by Riddick!

So, it seems that some of you that are saying Trent doesn’t want to be a Redskin anymore, or he want’s more money and he’s not worth it - just trade him already, may be off-base with your notions.

We have a ton of speculation, and little concrete evidence to go by, but what little evidence we do have suggests that this is a moral issue to Trent, and something the team can 100 percent fix if they so desire. Could some guaranteed money to the end of his contract make things a bit easier - I’m sure that wouldn’t hurt, even if it meant adding a year or two to his current deal, but by all accounts, his situation is not about that.

In something as complex as this situation seems to be, it may be best to sit back, reserve some judgement until we learn all the facts, and see what the future holds before we begin to play judge and jury from the outside looking in.