Is Trent Williams’ absence only about money?

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Word emerged on Tuesday that Washington tackle Trent Williams isn’t present for the team’s mandatory minicamp. His concern reportedly is contractual. There’s reason to believe, however, that the problem could be bigger than the size of his paychecks.

Consider this: It appears that Williams hasn’t been around at all this offseason, and that the team had done a great job of keeping it all very quiet.

“We have been talking to Trent a little bit here and there,” coach Jay Gruden told reporters on Tuesday. “He is not here [at practice], you are right. As far as holding out for whatever reasons, that is between Trent and Eric [Schaffer] and Bruce [Allen]. Hopefully, we’ll get it all situated soon and get him back here.”

Gruden’s comments seem to validate the notion that the concern is contractual. But there’s a sense in some league circles that Williams is concerned about more than his contract, and that he has hard feelings against the team regarding the manner in which the tumor/growth on his head was handled.

Indeed, it’s not as if Williams is withholding on-field services as leverage. Gruden confirmed that Williams wouldn’t be practicing, even if he were participating in the mandatory minicamp.

“Yeah, he is still recovering,” Gruden said of Williams. “He wouldn’t be able to practice anyway. He is still recovering from that. He’ll get that taken care of.”

The real question is whether he thinks the team did enough to ensure that it was taken care of, and whether that’s contributing to his current decision to stay away from the team.