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The San Francisco 49ers came into the year hoping Dee Winters could hold up after an injury-plagued 2024. Winters couldn’t stay off the injury report, and, despite working his way into the rotation at various points earlier in the year, didn’t see the field fully until a certain linebacker called it quits.
After 2024, imagine the ridicule you would’ve gotten had you said Winters would be the linebacker to stay healthy in 2025. That’s exactly what happened in 2025. Winters started all 17 games this past season and recorded over 100 tackles, including 10 for loss. He played about as well as you could ask a sixth-rounder to play.
The NFL’s ultimate ironman since 2018 dislocated his ankle in a gruesome injury last October. Fred Warner toyed with the idea of returning for the playoffs before ultimately staying on the sideline. The media hype leading up to that game made little sense, given the fact that Warner was in the owner’s suites the week prior.
It was a trying season at the position. Former seventh-rounder Tatum Bethune had four games in a row with double-digit tackles. His effort level and aggression were tremendous, but he was drafted in the final round for a reason.
Bethune and Winters suffered injuries in the final regular-season game that led to players playing starter-level snaps who weren’t on the roster a month prior. Eric Kendricks and Garret Wallow were not names we expected to see on the field this past season.
Now, the team is entertaining the idea of bringing Kendricks back after he looked like one of the Niners’ best defenders in limited action. Kendricks just turned 34.
We usually go over the strengths and weaknesses of each positional group. The strength of the 49ers’ linebacker group is the Hall of Famer who changed how teams identify the position. The second Warner left the field in Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield attacked the middle of the field.
From 2019 through 2023, teams rarely tried attacking the Niners over the intermediate portion of the field because the probability of success was obnoxiously low. That allowed the defense to be more versatile everywhere else. Without Warner on the field, we saw the 49ers be more conservative in coverage. The results went as expected.
Winters had to do more in coverage. Bethune was forced to do things he wasn’t comfortable doing in a bigger role. Unsurprisingly, preventing passes over the middle of the field was a struggle without Warner.
Luke Gifford, Wallow, Kendricks, and Curtis Robinson are all unrestricted free agents. Winters has one year remaining on his rookie contract. That means the third-rounder from last year’s draft, Nick Martin, Warner, and Bethune are the only three players under contract for at least two more seasons.
Martin should fit well into what Raheem Morris asks of his linebackers, given how Martin rushed the passer in college. The Niners could consider a linebacker in the draft. There are some quality, versatile athletes, like Cincinnati’s Jake Golday. There are also some instinctive players like Jacob Rodriquez who made a living generating turnovers in college.
Free-agent linebacker Kaden Elliss is a veteran with plenty of starting experience and is familiar with playing in Raheem Morris’s system. That feels like it would be an easy pairing, especially if the Niners aren’t convinced in Winters or Martin long-term. Morris has no ties to Kendricks, making Elliss a more likely signing.
There may be some surprise cap casualties the 49ers might be interested in during March. The athletes in the draft on a rookie contract will likely be more appealing, even moreso than Elliss. Whether the 49ers have an answer next to Warner comes down to how they feel about Martin.