We’re looking at the impact of Fred Warner’s new 3-year, $63 million extension with the 49ers on Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith

ESPN Sources: Four-time All-Pro LB Fred Warner and the 49ers reached agreement on a three-year, $63 million contract extension that includes over $56 million in guaranteed money that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid linebacker. It marks the second time in his seven-year NFL… pic.twitter.com/L4GHK7h4Vy

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 19, 2025

Roquan Smith has two years remaining on his contract, but could be looking for a new deal after one of his peers reset the market. San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner agreed to a 3-year, $63 million extension with the Niners, making him the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL.

The deal ties Warner to the team through the 2029 season. The reworked deal also returns Warner to the top of the list of highest-paid off-ball linebackers in the league at $21 million per season and adds $56 million in guaranteed money to a deal that no longer had any, the sources told Schefter.

With the move complete, we’re looking at how the deal impacts Smith.

Roquan could take a similar approach

Warner had two years remaining on the five-year, $95 million deal he signed in 2021. Under the terms of his old contract, Warner was scheduled to count $29.17 million against the 2025 cap and $26.71 million against the 2026 cap. Both numbers would have been easily among the two highest at the position in the NFL. Those numbers are expected to decrease significantly with the extension. The 2025 season is the final year of guaranteed money for Roquan Smith, and he’ll count $23,718,750 against the cap.

Comparing the players

Warner is coming off a season in which he earned a fourth first-team All-Pro appearance and his third straight; he played through a minor fracture in his ankle for the final 13 games of the season. Warner, 28, finished the 2024 season with 131 tackles (76 solo), 1.0 sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles, and a defensive touchdown across 17 starts for San Francisco. Roquan Smith, 28, played in 16 regular-season games in 2024 and finished with 154 tackles (81 solo), including 1.5 sacks, four pass defenses (including one interception), one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Smith was four combined tackles shy of matching his production from the 2023 campaign, and he finished the 2024 campaign with the fifth-most tackles in the NFL behind Zaire Franklin (173), Budda Baker (164), Robert Spillane (158), and Jamien Sherwood (158). Smith played every defensive snap in the Ravens‘ two playoff games and accumulated 13 tackles (six solo) over that span.

Highest paid linebacker

The new deal gives Warner an average annual salary of $21 million, surpassing Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, and Zack Baun.