“Fred [Warner] sets the tone for our entire team with the consistency, speed and physicality with which he plays,” is what San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch had said immediately after signing the linebacker to a three-year, $63 million extension three weeks ago. As a 4X Pro-Bowler who’d successfully reached the record books on multiple occasions—Warner ranks second in franchise history in total tackles and ties first in passes defended (53), among other accolades—the extension was a no-brainer. Yet, detractors were many.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter for one was not convinced entirely, giving his flowers to Nick Bosa earlier. But looks like Lynch is not one to sit idle letting that happen either. During a conversation with Pat McAfee, the GM hinted at what might be an undisclosed yet subtle beef brewing. The conversation started on June 11 on NFL on ESPN with McAfee asking, “I want to talk about all the money you gave out. Obviously, Brock Purdy…five-year, $265 million deal…Everybody thought that was lingering. You get the job done, that’s a big number. You were still able to pay George Kittle [and] Fred Warner…two pillars of your team….How do you balance it all? And how [do you] put priority on who you pay when?”
To this, the general manager responded, “These guys were pretty easy decisions…Brock’s our quarterback and that was an easy think tank session…we were also able to get two of our franchise’s best players ever and that’s saying something here, with George Kittle and Fred Warner,” before admitting about how Schefter’s opinion might not have gone down well with the 49ers linebacker: “Schefty said Bosa is the only holdover on our defense. I think Fred Warner would have a little beef [laughing].”
Since 2018, Warner has played 115 games, piling up 897 tackles (569 solo), 10.0 sacks, 10 INTs, and 15 forced fumbles. He’s led the team in tackles every single year of his career. Safe to say that he’s not a ‘holdover’, but the defensive keel. Interestingly, Lynch’s front office isn’t playing checkers—it’s 4D chess with salary caps. Locking Warner into a massive extension (making him the NFL’s highest-paid LB) while navigating cap hell? As Lynch put it: “In order to get guys done like that… we had to watch some really good players go.” That must have been hard. The math is brutal but beautiful:
Dead Cap Hit: ~$90M
Cap Space: Around $46 million in 2025, and over $9 million in 2026
Draft Capital: 11 picks fueling a youth movement
Clearly, Warner’s worth every penny. Remember the 2022 Divisional Playoff game vs. Dallas Cowboys? During the Third-and-5, Warner had traversed a 9.7-yard gap in 2.3 seconds, blanketing CeeDee Lamb, to mark an incomplete, and an eventual win. “Fred Warner came in here as a third-round pick from BYU, and they’ve really been the standard for who we want to be as a team. So to be able to lock those guys up on their third contracts was a big deal for us. I’m really excited about the work we got done this offseason.”
As for George Kittle (who was signed on a four-year, $76.4 million contract), he holds the record for the most receiving yards (7,380) and receptions (538) by a TE in 49ers history. Apart from that, these numbers also make him the third TE in NFL history to register over 500 receptions and over 7,000 receiving yards in the first eight seasons of his career, followed by retired player Antonio Gates and Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce.
“George’s leadership, enthusiasm for the game, for his teammates, and the Faithful are truly unique and special. He is an outstanding representation for the 49ers on the field and is an outstanding representative for the organization off the field with his investment in the local and military communities. He has a great sense of pride in his role and has put in the work to be one of the best tight ends in the NFL,” Lynch had said while talking about his extension in April this year.
So, one thing’s clear:
The 49ers are ready
With Robert Saleh back as DC, an easier 2025 schedule, and a +9 rest advantage? The Niners aren’t rebuilding—they’re reloading.
“In order to get guys done like that and pay them the way we did, we had to go through a bit of a transformation. We’ve had pedal to the metal since we’ve been here, paying a lot of great players, and it’s a good problem to have. Sometimes I try not to complain too much…. You’ve got a lot of great players. And we’ve been able to do that. But these were core guys,” was seemingly the front office’s mindset as per John Lynch.
But, Lynch’s extensions came with collateral damage, too, in the form of multiple trades and free agency breakups—countered by the NFL Draft. “I think with those 11 draft choices, there’s going to be a ton of opportunity for those young players to show who they are. We like it right now. I always tell folks, ask me in a couple years and we’ll tell you how we did. But I like what we were able to do on draft day and infuse some youth onto this roster of core players, future Hall of Famers. Let’s see what we can get done this year.”
He also summed up the price of core stability: “Prior to that, though, in free agency, we watched a record number—in terms of finances—of free agents leave here. And that’s hard, because we’ve always been adders during free agency. But you can’t pay everyone. So to be able to pay this core, to be able to pay our quarterback, we had to watch some really good players go. Fortunately, we had 11 draft picks, and you can’t get old as a team. We had to let some guys we really loved go and get younger.” Well, nobody stitches fabric like Fred Warner—thread by thread, tackle by tackle, legacy by legacy.
Warner didn’t just get paid. He got respected. The GM’s vision is clear: Warner + Purdy = cultural infrastructure. Everything else? Expendable.
The secondary? Either Lynch’s draft-day genius shines… or Schefter’s next tweet writes itself.
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