San Francisco 49ers NT Ian Williams' reportedly agreed to terms on a five-year contract just prior to the start of free agency. After silence for two weeks, word got out that the two sides had reworked the contract into a one year deal due to a failed physical.
Adam Schefter reported he has had at least two ankle surgeries from which he has not fully recovered. There is some concern that he may not being ready to play at the beginning of the season. It has been confirmed that the 49ers did know about the procedures but didn't think the recovery process would keep him out of action this long. New information from Trent Baalke on Tuesday revealed that the injury occurred during the offseason and Williams will likely start training camp on the Non Football Injury list (NFI).
#49ers GM Trent Baalke: Ian Williams' ankle injury was sustained in offseason. Williams likely to start TC in July on non-football injury.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoCSN) March 23, 2016
Williams has had injury issues with his ankle for some time now but did start all 16 games in 2015. What is interesting about this new development is the fact that Williams seems to have made it through the season intact, but re-injured himself in the offseason. No details on how the injury occurred have come out yet, which leaves us all to speculate what Williams was doing when he sustained the injury.
The NFI list operates in similar fashion to the PUP list in terms of roster rules. The one difference is technically you do not need to pay a player on the NFI list since the injury technically occurred "outside of football." Usually however, teams work out deals in that regard. Here is a full rundown of the injury list rules.