The Kansas City Chiefs made one of their biggest moves of the offseason when they signed linebacker Nick Bolton to a three-year, $45 million contract. While the Chiefs may have overpaid for the 25-year-old thanks to some other deals around the league, it kept one of their most important pieces of Steve Spagnulo’s defense and became more important when Justin Reid signed with the New Orleans Saints.
The Chiefs have to be happy with their decision to pay up but it had some unintended consequences. One of those popped up on Monday.
Nick Bolton’s Contract Gave 49ers Price Point to Re-Sign Fred Warner
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a contract extension with four-time All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner. The deal is a three-year, $63 million extension that includes over $56 million in guaranteed money and makes Warner the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL heading into his age-29 season.
Warner is well deserving of the accolade as he racked up another All-Pro honor last season. In 17 games, Warner collected 131 total tackles, five tackles for loss, seven pass deflections, four forced fumbles and two interceptions for the 49ers.
The $56 million in guaranteed money also dwarfs the $30 million in Bolton’s contract, meaning the Chiefs did the 49ers a favor by establishing some parameters. Though Warner is set to get paid, he's still massively underpaid compared to the value he adds, so KC reinforcing the notion that inside linebackers aren't worth as much through the Bolton signing actually helped San Fran out.
The truth is that the deal with Warner was going to get done regardless. A key piece of the 49ers, San Francisco had to spend some money to keep their veterans around this offseason. It began with George Kittle signing a four-year, $76 million contract earlier this offseason and continued when Brock Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million contract last week.
It remains to be seen if San Francisco gets back to Super Bowl contention after an offseason of change. But for now, the 49ers should send Bolton and the Chiefs a nice fruit basket for getting some of their offseason shopping done.