49ers experience needed shift in positivity as Week 1 approaches

49ers experience needed shift in positivity as Week 1 approaches originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It has been a tumultuous few weeks for the 49ers.

Actually, that does not even come close to describing what the organization has experienced since the opening of training camp.

The nadir came Saturday afternoon, of course, when rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot through the chest during an armed robbery attempt.

Miraculously, Pearsall did not require surgery and was discharged from the hospital less than 21 hours after the incident.

The 49ers on Monday placed Pearsall on the reserve/non-football injury list, making him ineligible for at least the first four games of the regular season.

Between that scary, life-and-death situation, the 49ers worked out a couple of high-profile contract issues with two of their offensive stars.

The news of Trent Williams and the 49ers getting set to finalize their new deal is another positive development — and the last issue hanging over the team that needed to be addressed.

Williams was on a jet to the Bay Area in the early morning hours on Tuesday. His agency reports Williams is returning to the Bay Area to “finalize the new contract.”

In other words, it’s close enough that there is no question at this point that it’s going to happen.

Williams’ holdout will come to an end on the 43rd day after the team was scheduled to report to training camp in Santa Clara on July 23.

Most of the talk this summer was regarding wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s situation. Aiyuk requested a trade a week before the opening of camp, and the 49ers had deals in place that would have sent him to Cleveland or New England.

But when all the moving parts never aligned in a trade, it became apparent that the most likely resolution would be for Aiyuk to remain with the 49ers.

And that saga came to a conclusion on Thursday when the sides agreed to a contract that is set to pay him $134.1 million over the next five seasons.

Williams’ situation seemed to be, more or less, a footnote during a drama-filled training camp. Williams and his camp remained quiet, as the 49ers waited patiently for a time when a new deal could get struck.

Williams, 36, is an 11-time Pro Bowl player who earned first-team All-Pro recognition in each of the past three seasons.

His importance to the 49ers’ offense cannot be overstated. With him, the 49ers’ offensive line might be top-10 in the league. Without him, it might be bottom-10. That’s how valuable Williams is to the team.

And that is the way he is viewed around the league, too. In the recent Top 100 Players compiled by the NFL Network, Williams ranked No. 7 — an absurdly high ranking for an offensive lineman.

Williams does not need a lot of time to get ready for the regular season. Team sources felt he would know exactly when he could report to the team in order to not put the start of the regular season in danger.

The 49ers have a practice scheduled for Tuesday. After a day off, they have a full week of preparation in order to face the New York Jets on Monday night in Week 1.

Aiyuk is back. Williams is back. And Pearsall’s prognosis is encouraging, too.

The 49ers finally are seeing some positive developments with the opening of the regular season less than a week away.

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