The 49ers dramatically altered their draft plans Monday when they agreed to make former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander the highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL. Linebacker won’t go off their list of needs, but it gets pushed way down the list.
Paying Alexander in free agency is a signal that the 49ers believe he’ll recover fully from a torn ACL that knocked him out of the 2018 season after six weeks. He’s just 24-years old, so his viability as a long-term answer at WILL alongside Fred Warner is real.
This essentially eliminates the idea of the 49ers using an early-round pick on an inside linebacker. There was a legitimate possibility they targeted one in a trade back from the No. 2 pick, or a trade up from the No. 36 selection. That’s off the table now with a young, high-paid player on the roster.
Even if Alexander’s injury carries over into the regular season, the 49ers have enough depth pieces to withstand his absence for a couple games.
There’s still a chance general manager John Lynch pulls the trigger on a linebacker in the later rounds. Depth is never bad, and if Alexander struggles to regain peak form after his injury, the 49ers will be in the hunt for his replacement. Taking a flier on a sixth or seventh-round linebacker isn’t out of the realm of possibilities for them.
Addressing this need in free agency will allow the 49ers to focus more heavily on other needs at edge rusher, wide receiver and the secondary.
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