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49ers Add Offensive Line Depth With Vederian Lowe Signing
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- 49ers Add Offensive Line Depth With Vederian Lowe Signing
The San Francisco 49ers added offensive line depth early in free agency, agreeing to a two-year deal with offensive tackle Vederian Lowe that could be worth up to $12 million.
Lowe, 26, brings starting experience to a position group that needed reinforcement heading into the 2026 season. Originally a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Illinois, Lowe entered the league with the Minnesota Vikings before eventually landing with the New England Patriots, where he saw the majority of his playing time.
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Across three NFL seasons, Lowe has appeared in 42 games and made 25 starts. Last season he started several games at left tackle, including the final four of the regular season when injuries forced him into a larger role along New England's offensive line.
While Lowe has shown he can step in when needed, the 49ers appear to view him primarily as a depth option and swing tackle rather than a guaranteed starter.
Contract structure and guarantees
According to contract details from Over the Cap, Lowe's deal includes $5.75 million in guaranteed money and a signing bonus of approximately $2.78 million. In order to keep the cap hits manageable, the 49ers structured the deal using "void" or "ghost" years.
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Although the contract itself lasts two seasons, the signing bonus is spread across five years for salary cap purposes. That prorates the bonus at about $556,000 per season through 2030, which helps keep Lowe's early cap numbers relatively modest.
Lowe will earn base salaries of roughly $1.3 million in 2026 and $1.7 million in 2027. When combined with bonuses and guarantees, the structure pushes his total guaranteed compensation to the $5.75 million mark.
The contract also includes additional incentives and bonuses. Lowe will receive a $522,000 roster bonus annually through 2031 due to the contract structure, along with per-game roster bonuses that total up to $680,000 across the first two seasons. He can earn up to $340,000 per year in per-game bonuses, which comes out to roughly $20,000 per game.
There are also workout bonuses worth $100,000 in each of the next two seasons.
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Affordable depth for the offensive line
From a salary cap perspective, the deal is relatively team friendly. Lowe will carry a cap hit of about $2.19 million in 2026 before increasing to roughly $3.21 million in 2027.
Those figures place Lowe's contract near the middle of the league among left tackle deals, ranking around 27th out of more than 100 players at the position when factoring in all contracts, including rookies.
For the 49ers, the signing is largely about strengthening offensive line depth and creating insurance at a key position.
With the future of veteran left tackle Trent Williams still a major storyline heading into the offseason, Lowe gives the team a player with real starting experience who can step in if needed. While he may not be viewed as a long-term solution, he provides San Francisco with a capable backup and spot starter as the team continues shaping its offensive line for the upcoming season.
