ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the San Francisco 49ers are signing Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Eric Kendricks to a one-year deal. The Chargers released Kendricks on March 5.
49ers are signing former Chargers LB Eric Kendricks to a one-year deal, per source. Kendricks was a Chargers captain last season, when he started 14 games and finished second on the team with 117 tackles. pic.twitter.com/qNjIqDfiTJ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2024
Kendricks, 32, joins the 49ers after linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffered a torn Achilles in the Super Bowl. Greenlaw could miss much of the 2024 season.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Kendricks (6-0, 232) as a second-round pick (No. 45 overall) out of UCLA in 2015. Last season, he registered 117 tackles, including seven tackles for a loss, seven quarterback hits, 3.5 sacks, six passes defensed, and a forced fumble in 15 game appearances (14 starts) with the Chargers, per Pro Football Reference.
In his nine NFL seasons with the Vikings and Chargers, Kendricks has recorded 1,036 tackles, including 61 tackles for a loss, 36 quarterback hits, 18.5 sacks, 57 passes defensed, nine interceptions, two touchdowns, and five forced fumbles in 132 game appearances, with 127 starts.
Kendricks has recorded more than 100 tackles in each of his past eight seasons and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2019.
The 49ers have two linebackers—Oren Burks and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles—scheduled to become unrestricted free agents today.