The Official 2025 NFL Offseason Discussion Thread

[R-Troop]

This is about as surprising as the sun coming up in the morning.

Well deserved.

 

[Wolverine]

Sources: 49ers make Warner NFL's top-paid LB

Linebacker Fred Warner and the 49ers reached agreement on a three-year, $63 million contract extension that includes over $56 million in guaranteed money, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

www.espn.com

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After completing lucrative contract extensions with quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle in recent weeks, the San Francisco 49ers had one more key player to take care of to wrap up their most pressing offseason business: linebacker Fred Warner.

On Monday, the Niners and Warner checked that box as he agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract extension, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. 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.

While Purdy's deal represented the largest deal in team history (five years for $265 million, including $181 million in overall guaranteed money) and the biggest raise the Niners have ever handed out, Warner's extension always figured to be a bit easier because he had two years remaining on the five-year, $95 million deal he signed in 2021.

Like with Kittle this offseason and running back Christian McCaffrey last year, Warner's deal was more about moving money around, adding some guarantees and lowering his near-term salary cap figures.

Under the terms of his old deal, 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.

When Warner reported along with most of his teammates for the start of the offseason program in April, he made it clear that he had no concerns about the potential for a contract extension.

Although 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 small fracture in his ankle for the final 13 games of the season. He revealed near the end of last season that he required painkilling injections to make it through the end of the season.

But Warner did not require ankle surgery and said he felt "great" when he returned for the offseason program.

With Warner, 28, Purdy and Kittle signed before the on-field portion of organized team activities begin, the 49ers can rest easy from a business standpoint as they head toward training camp.

In recent years, the Niners have engaged in lengthy contract negotiations with defensive end Nick Bosa, receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams. All of those extensions didn't get done until late August or early September with each player missing most or all of training camp.

There should be no such issues for the Niners this year as they attempt to bounce back from a disappointing 6-11 finish in 2024.

 

[Wolverine]

Sources: NFL to OK flag football for '28 Olympics

A vote on whether to allow NFL players to participate in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is expected to pass at Tuesday's league meeting, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

A vote on whether to allow NFL players to participate in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is expected to pass at Tuesday's league meeting in Minneapolis, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The resolution needs to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 team owners. The league then will need to negotiate with the NFL Players Association, Olympic officials and national governing bodies on the specifics of letting NFL players participate.

The resolution on Olympic flag football participation is one of multiple items expected to be voted on this week. Owners also will vote on the Green Bay Packers' proposal to ban the controversial tush push play and the Detroit Lions' proposal to reseed playoff teams based on regular-season record, but sources told Schefter that those votes are not expected until Wednesday.

Although the fate of the tush push and playoff reseeding resolutions remained uncertain as of Tuesday morning, a source told Schefter that passing the resolution on the Olympic flag football participation "should be easy."

The flag football resolution establishes rules and a basic structure for how the NFL hopes to see the process work, subject to negotiations with the NFLPA and Olympics-related entities. They include:

• Permission for any player under NFL contract to participate in tryouts

• A limit of one player per NFL team on each national team participating

• Allowing, in addition, a team's designated international player to play for his home country

• A purchase of leaguewide insurance policies to provide injury protection for any player injured while participating in an authorized flag football activity related to the Olympics

• A salary cap credit for any player who is injured

• An expectation that Olympic flag football teams will establish medical staffs and field surfaces that comply with NFL minimum standards

• A schedule that "does not unreasonably conflict with an NFL player's league and club commitments."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and other key league officials made their support for participation at the Olympics clear during their most recent meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, last month.

The Los Angeles Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 14, 2028, to July 30, 2028. NFL players are typically off during most of that period. At worst, flag football participants would miss the start of training camp.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press contributed to this report.