March 8, 2026, 8:20 a.m. PT
The San Francisco 49ers’ linebacker corps will get a much-needed boost in 2026, as they’ll get four-time All-Pro Fred Warner back after he missed most of the 2025 season with a fractured and dislocated ankle.
However, with Luke Gifford, Eric Kendricks, Curtis Robinson and Garret Wallow all set to be unrestricted free agents at the start of the new league year this week, the 49ers could use help at the position.
With that, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler linked San Francisco to Kaden Elliss, who, Fowler noted, has a connection with the 49ers due to Raheem Morris, his former head coach, landing as defensive coordinator this offseason.
Elliss, 30, played collegiately at Idaho from 2014-18, where he earned All-Sun Belt honors once, before the New Orleans Saints took him in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL draft (No. 244 overall).
After four years with the Saints, Elliss spent the last three with the Atlanta Falcons. In his seven seasons since entering the NFL, he’s appeared in 99 games and started 63 while recording 481 tackles, 45 quarterback hits, 20.5 sacks, 14 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, two interceptions and two fumbles recovered.
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Elliss’ younger brother, Christian, spent a week on San Francisco’s practice squad in 2021.
If San Francisco is signing Elliss, that could mean they’re moving on from either Dee Winters or Tatum Bethune, who both played significant snaps in 2025.
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