Having signed Brock Purdy and George Kittle to long-term extensions, the San Francisco 49ers have tied another of their core players to a long-term deal by extending linebacker Fred Warner.
According to multiple reports, the 49ers have signed Warner to a three-year, $63 million extension that makes him the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL, with the deal including $56.7 million in guaranteed money.
Warner had two years remaining on the five-year, $95.2 million deal he signed with San Francisco in 2021, but this latest extension ties him to the 49ers through the 2029 season.
It marks the second time in his career Warner has been the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL, the 2018 third-round pick having long since established himself as the premier player at the position.
Despite playing with a fracture in his ankle for most of last season, Warner was named a first-team All-Pro for the fourth time in his career and for the third consecutive campaign in 2024.
San Francisco’s success in getting long-term deals for star players done early is in marked contrast to the approach the 49ers took last offseason, when they were involved in long contract stand-offs with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and future Hall of Fame tackle Trent Williams that dragged on until the opening week of the regular season.
Those sagas preceded a 6-11 season in which Aiyuk suffered a serious knee injury and Williams missed seven games with a lingering ankle injury.
With their big business this year all done and dusted by May, the 49ers will hope the good faith they have shown in these negotiations will help inspire a bounce back to Super Bowl contention in the 2025 campaign.
