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All-Pro LB Fred Warner agrees to 5-year, $95 million extension with 49ers

San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner, shown Nov. 24, 2019, recorded a career-high 125 total tackles last season. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner, shown Nov. 24, 2019, recorded a career-high 125 total tackles last season. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

July 21 (UPI) -- The San Francisco 49ers are signing All-Pro defender Fred Warner to a multiyear contract extension that will make him the highest-paid inside linebacker in the league.

League sources told ESPN, NFL Media and the Mercury News on Wednesday that Warner and the 49ers reached an agreement on a five-year, $95 million deal that includes $40.5 million guaranteed.

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The $19 million average annual value of Warner's pact eclipses the previous high of $18 million per year held by Seattle Seahawks star linebacker Bobby Wagner.

The deal comes less than a week before the 49ers are scheduled to report for training camp and 10 days before the team starts practice July 31, which was viewed as an unofficial deadline for the two sides to finalize an extension.

Warner, a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, ended last season with a career-best 125 total tackles and two interceptions. He earned his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods in that 2020 campaign.

In 48 career games with the 49ers, the 24-year-old Warner has racked up 367 tackles, four sacks, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, three interceptions and 21 passes defensed.

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Warner joins teammates George Kittle and Trent Williams in landing record-setting contracts at their respective positions in the past year. Kittle, a tight end, re-signed right before last year's training camp, and Williams, a left tackle, agreed to his deal in March.

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