The No-Brainer Niners Signing That Would Solidify San Francisco's Defense
Injuries ravaged San Francisco's linebackers. Re-signing veteran Eric Kendricks offers immediate stability and experienced leadership.
Video Transcript
There's one move that makes too much sense, and the Niners already sound like they're interested.
The move, this-- the forty-niners linebacker, Eric Kendricks, two season ago, it felt like San Francisco running back was the most physically hazardous job in all of football.
Last season, it may have been playing linebacker for them instead.
The ninety-- Niners second level was decimated in, eh, by injuries throughout the year, as we know.
What was once the league's most stable linebacker unit suddenly became a revolving door.
That's what made the late-season addition of veteran Eric Kendricks so important.
Now a pending free agent, he may not fit the long-term youth movement that general ge- manager John Lynch has emphasized, but sometimes the obvious move is still the right move.
He arrived late, learned the system quickly, and delivered when it mattered most.
He played limited snaps in the regular season but was elevated in the playoffs, and his performance in the Wild Card round over the Philadelphia Eagles was impressive.
He was organized, calm, and functional.
San Francisco doesn't need Kendricks to be a seventeen game one hundred tackle centerpiece, they need insurance.
And based on John Lynch's comment on the-- at the NFL Scouting Combine, the mi-- the interest is mutual.
When speaking about Kendricks, Lynch made it clear the organization valued what the veteran brought to the locker room and the field, especially considering how quickly he had to get up to speed.
The reality is, is that Winters and Bethune are still proving themselves.
Martin remains a projection, and counting on all three of them to stay healthy and take a huge leap simultaneously is risky business.
Re-signing Kendricks buys time.
This doesn't need to be a long-term commitment.
A one-year, team-friendly contract keeps flexibility intact while preventing the defense from entering another depth crisis.
Bringing Eric Kendricks back checks every box for a team that can't afford another year of linebacker uncertainty.
