The 49ers surprisingly made the seven highest-paid position players since 2017 originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers know a thing or two about handing out historic NFL contracts.
San Francisco has a plethora of stars on both sides of the ball and every year it seems like they come to terms on a lucrative contract extension with one of their players.
The last star to receive was running back Christian McCaffrey, who signed a two-year contract worth US$38 million extension on Tuesday to become the NFL’s highest-paid player at his position.
As The Athletic’s David Lombardi pointed out on X, formerly known as Twitter, McCaffrey is the seventh different 49ers player (eighth different contract) since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017 to become the most well paid in their respective positions.
Here are the contracts handed out by the 49ers who were, at the time, the biggest in the NFL at the position, either per year or overall.
2024: McCaffrey; two years, US$38 million (average salary of US$19 million)
2023: Bosa; five years, US$170 million (average salary of US$34 million)
2021: Juszczyk; five years, $27 million ($5.4 million average salary)
Warner; five years, US$95 million (average salary of US$19 million)
Williams; six years, US$138 million (average salary of US$23 million)
2020: Kitten; five years, US$75 million (average salary of US$15 million)
2018: Garoppolo; five years, US$137.5 million (average salary of US$27.5 million)
2017: Juszczyk; four years, $21 million ($5.25 million average salary)
This list does not include wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s three-year, $71.5 million extension in 2022 or Brandon Aiyuk’s potential deal that pays/likely will pay both receivers near the top of the market without making them the highest paid at the position.
San Francisco also handed out lucrative contracts to defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (four years, $84 million; currently 10th among DTs in total value) and cornerback Charvarius Ward (three years, $39 million; currently 10th among the CBs in total value).
It’s literally worth it to play well for the 49ers.
