The San Francisco 49ers are welcoming back one of the best linebackers in the NFL.
Fred Warner is fully healthy entering the 2026 season after being cleared for the team’s offseason program this spring.
Warner missed a majority of the 2025 season after sustaining a scary fracture and dislocation of his right ankle during a Week 6 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His absence from the final 11 games of the year seemingly played a role in Warner’s drastic drop on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026. The list is determined by current players, who vote on their peers based on their performance from the previous year.
Warner earned the No. 54 spot on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 after coming in at No. 16 last season.
“I always believed strongly that everything happens for a reason,” Warner told The Athletic in a recent feature. “And it would be wrong to abandon that in the toughest times.”
Last season, Warner appeared in only six games for the 49ers before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery. He recorded 51 tackles (two for loss), three passes defended, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery before being sidelined.
Warner was on pace to have another All-Pro season prior to the injury. Last May, the 49ers and Warner reached a three-year, $63 million extension, which made the 29-year-old the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL.
The four-time Pro Bowler is regarded as one of the best at the linebacker position and he impressed many by his speedy recovery from such a devastating injury. There was even a possibility Warner would have rejoined the 49ers for the NFC Championship Game had San Francisco advanced.
The injury-decimated team upset the Eagles in the wild-card round before getting walloped 41-6 by the Seahawks in the Divisional Round.
Across eight seasons in the league, Warner has tallied 948 tackles, 38 tackles for loss, 30 quarterback hits, 10.0 sacks, 17 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions. It’s evident the 49ers value the BYU product as he’s spent the entirety of his NFL career in the Bay.
If the 49ers’ stars (like Warner) can remain healthy throughout the year, the team has a good chance of making a playoff push.
It appears many of the future Hall of Famer’s peers have forgotten just how dominant Warner can be as he enters the upcoming campaign with a chip on his shoulder after falling more than 30 places on the NFL Top 100 Players list.
