SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ defensive makeover this offseason couldn’t ignore their linebacker unit, and today’s start of the league year has them connected with veteran Eric Kendricks.
Kendrcks, 32, is expected to sign a one-year contract with the reigning NFC champions, ESPN first reported. That swiftly addresses the 49ers’ need for a plug-and-play linebacker to, at the very least, cover for Dre Greenlaw, who sustained a torn Achilles tendon in last month’s Super Bowl.
Pairing Kendricks with two-time All-Pro Fred Warner should stabilize and enhance a 49ers defense under new coordinator Nick Sorensen, whose promotion last month from pass-game specialist still hasn’t been formally announced by the 49ers.
Kendricks is a Clovis native who played at Hoover High-Fresno before coming out of UCLA in 2015 as arguably the nation’s top linebacker. Drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings, Kendricks played eight years with them before moving on last year to the Los Angeles Chargers, where he totaled 117 tackles.
Kendricks’ connection to the Chargers also links him with Brandon Staley, who was fired as their coach last season and is now on the 49ers’ defensive staff.
Kendricks’ lone season as an All-Pro and Pro Bowl linebacker came with the 2019 Vikings, who fell in the divisional playoffs to the Super Bowl-bound 49ers; Kendricks intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo in that game.
Kenrick’s 1,036 career tackles rank sixth among active players; Warner ranks 16th with 766 tackles since 2018. Kendricks’ brother, Mychal, signed with the 49ers during the 2019 season but did not play a game as he finished out his 10-year career out of Cal, including stints in Philadelphia and Seattle.
Oren Burks and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, both of whom helped fill in after Greenlaw’s stunning exit in the Super Bowl, are free agents.
During the NFL’s free agency negotiating window the past two days, the 49ers reportedly agreed to two-year deals with defensive ends Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott.
Many more personnel moves are expected today, including the release of defensive tackle Arik Armstead, a nine-year veteran and four-time captain who was to require offseason knee surgery for a torn meniscus.