Open Extended Reactions
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers opened their offseason training program Monday with a familiar face back healthy and leading the way: linebacker Fred Warner.
After suffering a season-ending right ankle injury in an Oct. 12 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Warner is back at full strength for San Francisco’s offseason program with no limitations on his participation.
"I'm feeling extremely blessed, grateful to be back, feeling great and no restrictions," Warner said. "Just able to jump right in."
In January, Warner had hoped he could return at some point in the postseason if the 49ers advanced far enough into the NFC playoffs for him to return to practice and knock off any rust.
The Niners opened Warner's 21-day practice window on Jan. 13, and Warner was a limited participant that week as San Francisco prepared to play the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC divisional round.
A victory that week might have allowed Warner to play in the NFC Championship Game, but the Seahawks sent the 49ers packing in a 41-6 win.
Warner said Monday that week of practice assured him that his offseason training would look more like his usual preparation rather than focusing on rehabilitating the injury.
"The fact that I was able to return to practice kind of gave me all the confidence in the world to really attack training during the offseason," Warner said. "Not having to start from like doing rehab and everything. [I'm] just going from ground zero, building up just like I would any other offseason. It's been great."
Warner missed the final 12 games of the 2025 regular season and both 49ers playoff contests, the first time since he was drafted in 2018 that he missed more than one game in a season. He finished with 51 tackles, two for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his six games last season.
While Warner joined his teammates for the start of another offseason program Monday, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk remains in limbo as the Niners continue to seek a team willing to give up some sort of compensation to acquire him.
General manager John Lynch, speaking at his pre-draft news conference, reaffirmed San Francisco's long held plan to move on from Aiyuk while noting that the team is still hanging on to a tiny bit of hope it can get something for him rather than releasing him outright.
"Do I think it's a high probability? Likely, no," Lynch said. "But is there a chance? Yeah. I think there's a chance."
Lynch said there have been discussions with teams about Aiyuk, though he did not delve into the specifics of those conversations. He went on to point out that the league calendar offers "inflection points" where deals are more likely to come together.
This week's NFL draft could be such a benchmark as teams who might miss on wideouts in the draft could potentially turn their attention back to Aiyuk.
"We all are in concert on where we're going with Brandon," Lynch said. "The league meetings is a great opportunity because everyone in the league is there. The draft is another opportunity because a lot of things happen on draft week. I think we'll see it through here."
If the 49ers don't find a trade partner during or after the draft, the likelihood remains that they will release Aiyuk either with a post-June 1 designation or after June 1 in order to spread out the dead money they would incur on the salary cap as part of the transaction.
"If something happens there, great," Lynch said. "If not, we'll reevaluate it. He's still a member of this roster right now and we'll treat him as such."
