The 49ers gave Fred Warner a BAG!!! Now, who's the next market reset?

AtoZ Sports

Kyle Crabbs discusses San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, fresh off of an extension, and gives out a few possibilities on which player could be the next to reset their position market!

Transcript

00:00Earlier this week, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner reclaimed the title as the NFL's APY

00:07King at the off-ball linebacker position. Who's got next at their respective position across the NFL?

00:13I'm glad you asked. Kyle Krabs with A-Z Sports and the San Francisco 49ers for the second time

00:22this past week made waves with a contract extension after agreeing to a not record-setting

00:28contract deal with Brock Purdy. The 49ers agreed to terms on a contract extension with linebacker

00:34Fred Warner that placed him back in front of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith for the

00:39highest paid linebacker in football. So now in an offseason in which we've seen Miles Garrett become

00:45the highest paid edge rusher in football and Jamar Chase become the highest paid wide receiver in

00:49football and Derek Stingley Jr. become the highest paid cornerback in football. Now seeing Fred Warner

00:54take the title at linebacker, the question begs to be asked, who's got next? And most people will

01:01probably point to Dallas Cowboys linebacker slash edge rusher Micah Parsons, but here's the

01:06inconvenient truth about the Dallas Cowboys these days. They're not quite as quick on the draw as

01:12they need to be when getting these supersized contracts done. That's how they ended up paying

01:16more for CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, who got $60 million per season on average with his new deal

01:23signed last fall. And multiple quarterback contracts have been done since, including

01:27Buffalo's Josh Allen. None of them touched $60 million per season. So I don't think Micah Parsons

01:33is even the most likely Dallas Cowboy to be the next market reset that exists. I think you can look

01:38at Tyler Smith at offensive guard and also Brandon Aubrey, a kicker as guys that are getting ready

01:44to enter into negotiation windows. Aubrey in a contract year, he hits absolute bombs for Dallas.

01:50They hit the 50-yard line. They're in scoring territory. He's almost automatic on these deep

01:54kicks. Aubrey's the best kicker in football. That price points $6.4 million per season on average.

02:01Would not be surprised to see the Cowboys come to terms on a market reset at the kicker position,

02:06but you're not here for kicker content. Let's be honest. So let's talk about Tyler Smith. Dallas,

02:11having Zach Martin come off the books with retirement is probably going to open some more wiggle room

02:16for the Cowboys to properly prioritize getting a sturdy long-term contract in place for Tyler

02:23Smith, who's been a first-round success story for the Dallas Cowboys. When you look at offensive guard

02:29contracts, Kansas City Chiefs Trey Smith is technically the guard APY king, but he's playing

02:37on the franchise tag. In the way that the collective bargaining agreement is currently situated,

02:41all offensive line salaries are pulling together. So that means the $28 million plus per year that

02:48Penny, Sewell, and Tristan Wirfs are getting to be franchise left tackles and franchise right

02:52tackles, those salaries are pooling into those guard contracts, and it's making the franchise tag

02:58even more expensive. When you look at a guy on a multi-year contract at the guard position,

03:04your APY king is Philadelphia's Landon Dickerson at $21 million per season.

03:09Thanks to the retirement of Zach Martin, I think Tyler Smith is probably more likely to get that

03:14market reset contract sooner than Micah Parsons, despite how good and dominant Parsons can be.

03:22But this conversation is not just focused on kickers and offensive guards.

03:27Sauce Gardner might have something to say about this one. It's all said and done as well,

03:31but here's why I wouldn't pick Sauce Gardner to be the next market reset. The New York Jets are in

03:35the midst of a transition. They've made a new hire at head coach. They've made a new hire at general

03:38manager. Sauce Gardner, of course, from the previous regime. New York, how likely are they to make that

03:45kind of investment, especially when you consider? Derek Stingley Jr.'s contract at $25 million per

03:51season is $5 million per year higher than the next contract on the list. Sauce might need a little bit

03:59of sweat equity with that current regime in order to be given the skip the line and avoid being placed

04:05between the $30 and $25 million that exist as annual average salaries for the top two names

04:12in the quarterback market. Defensive back, I do think, has a strong case to be made, though.

04:17When you add Kyle Hamilton, the safety from the Baltimore Ravens to the mix,

04:22that was another market reset that we just saw get done this offseason when the Detroit Lions

04:27extended Kirby Joseph, and that was at a price point of $21.5 million per season.

04:33There's two ways you get paid as a safety in the NFL. You take the football away or you do

04:38everything. He's the guy who has an incredible ability to turn the ball over, create interceptions.

04:44Kyle Hamilton's the guy that does everything where he can line up deep. He can line up in the slot. He

04:49can line up on the second level. He can blitz and pressure. He can play tight ends man-to-man. He can

04:54fit the run. He tackles incredibly well. He's a rare size athlete to play in the secondary,

05:00and he does everything. At $21.5 million per season, I would not be surprised in the slightest

05:07to find out that Kyle Hamilton becomes the new safety APY king. He isn't the only Baltimore Raven

05:13on my list either. Tyler Linderbaum at center, I think, is another strong candidate when you consider

05:18the fact that that is $18 million per season and Baltimore bypassed the fifth-year option.

05:24Why would they do that if they like Tyler Linderbaum? For the same reason why the franchise tag doesn't

05:30necessarily count for the highest contract. Offensive tackle salaries go into the fifth-year

05:36option price point for interior offensive linemen. With Baltimore bypassing the fifth-year option for

05:42Tyler Linderbaum, there's more urgency to get that contract done sooner rather than later, and at $18

05:49million per season, I think it's a very easily digestible price point for Baltimore to come

05:55to terms on a long-term contract extension that would reset the market at the center position.

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