49ers amazingly made seven players highest-paid at position since 2017

49ers amazingly made seven players highest-paid at position since 2017 originally appeared on 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 they come to terms on a lucrative contract extension with one of their players.

The latest star to get paid was running back Christian McCaffrey, who signed a two-year, $38 million contract extension on Tuesday to become the highest-paid player in the NFL 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 highest-paid at their respective position.

Here are the contracts the 49ers handed out that were, at the time, the largest in the NFL at the position either on a per-year basis or overall.

2024: McCaffrey; two years, $38 million ($19 million average salary)
2023: Bosa; five years, $170 million ($34 million average salary)
2021: Juszczyk; five years, $27 million ($5.4 million average salary)
Warner; five years, $95 million ($19 million average salary)
Williams; six years, $138 million ($23 million average salary)
2020: Kittle; five years, $75 million ($15 million average salary)
2018: Garoppolo; five years, $137.5 million ($27.5 million average salary)
2017: Juszczyk; four years, $21 million ($5.25 million average salary)

This list doesn’t include wide receiver Deebo Samuel‘s three-year, $71.5 million extension in 2022 or Brandon Aiyuk’s potential deal that paid/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 CBs in total value.

It pays, quite literally, to play well for the 49ers.

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