Trent Williams says Vikings ‘dropped out’ of potential deal

San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams is sticking to his story that he wasn’t the one to put an end to the possibility of landing with the Minnesota Vikings.

For the Minnesota Vikings, it seems like improving the offensive line has always been near the top of the priorities list during each offseason for the last few years.

So it wasn’t any surprise when rumors started to spread about the Vikings having an interest in making a deal with the Washington Redskins to acquire left tackle Trent Williams.

While Williams is entering the backend of his NFL career, he still would have been an upgrade for Minnesota at left tackle over Riley Reiff for next season. However, Minnesota was unable to complete a trade with the Redskins and Williams ended up being sent to the San Francisco 49ers for a pair of draft picks.

It was actually a little surprising when the veteran left tackle didn’t land with the Vikings since they were viewed by some as the favorite to acquire him. Especially after the first day of this year’s NFL Draft when some of the other teams who had an interest in Williams used their first-round picks on young offensive tackles.

Shortly before he was sent to the 49ers, rumors began to spread about Williams not wanting to be traded to Minnesota. The left tackle and his agent then quickly denied these rumors and on Thursday, he said it was actually the Vikings who ended the chances of a potential trade with Washington.

"“The Vikings, long term, and what I looked at long term, it didn’t synch up. They just really dropped out. It wasn’t me refusing to go.”"

It doesn’t really matter what the truth is at this point since Williams got his wish for the Redskins to trade him. But him not ending up in Minnesota is something he clearly wants people to know wasn’t due to him refusing a possible deal.

As much as the Vikings would have liked to have a starting left tackle with the ability of Williams, things might have actually worked out better for them.

Minnesota was able to add former Boise State left tackle Ezra Cleveland in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft and they’re hoping he can develop into their longterm option at the position. If everything goes according to plan, Cleveland could turn out to be a great alternative to missing out on Williams.