The San Francisco 49ers made another big move on Monday, signing Fred Warner to a three-year, $63 million extension with over $56 million guaranteed, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Warner now becomes the highest-paid linebacker in NFL history for the second time in his career.
This completes a busy few weeks for John Lynch and the Niners front office. Mere days ago, Brock Purdy inked a $265 million extension with a no-trade clause, becoming the NFL's seventh-highest-paid player. Before that, it was George Kittle, who received four years and $76.4 million to render his services at tight end.
After all the turmoil of last offseason, which saw Brandon Aiyuk's contract negotiations drag on endlessly — right up until the regular season — San Francisco appears determined to chart a new course in 2025. The Niners are all-in on this group and looking to avoid the drama inherent to contract uncertainty.
49ers extend Fred Warner to lock up core ahead of 2025 season
Warner, 28, accumulated 131 tackles, two QB hits, five tackles for a loss and one sack in 17 starts last season. It was his third straight All-Pro first team nod, and his fourth in seven NFL seasons.
This was a no-brainer for the Niners, who have bled talent on the defensive side in recent years. The departures of Charvarius Ward and Dre Greenlaw loom large over this coming season. For all its top-end talent, San Francisco has struggled to keep the entire support system in tact. The Deebo Samuel trade was inevitable, but it's further proof that it's hard to keep all the mouths fed on a good team, much less a great team.
San Francisco only won six games in 2024, but this team was in the Super Bowl just two years ago. When healthy and sharply focused, the Niners stack up with most teams in the NFC. By re-signing Warner, the Niners are at least keeping their top of the top-line talent in house. San Francisco may not be able to sustain the depth of their NFC championship roster, but the Niners can at least satisfy the core stars.
There is an alternate timeline in which Purdy, Warner and Kittle all remain unsigned going into training camp and the Niners are once again marred by hurt feelings and combative egos. The Aiyuk saga last offseason was a genuine debacle. He was late to ramp up, underperformed out of the gate, and then got hurt seven weeks into a ripe, brand-new multiyear contract.
San Francisco is wise to get all this wrapped up early in the offseason. It will be increasingly hard to build around these massive cornerstone deals, but such is the price of contention. This is much better than the alternative.