The 49ers on Monday announced linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair signed his one-year tendered contract and will return to the club for the 2022 campaign.
Al-Shaair, an undrafted rookie in 2019, was a restricted free agent and earned a second-round tender from San Francisco. That means any team that would’ve signed him would’ve had to give the 49ers a second-round pick to do so.
Linebacker will be a fascinating position to watch this year since Al-Shaair and Dre Greenlaw will both be unrestricted free agents in the offseason. Greenlaw was very good in 2019 and 2020, but got derailed by injuries in 2021.
Greenlaw going down opened the door for Al-Shaair to take on a larger role and he took full advantage with 102 tackles, 2.0 sacks, one interception and five pass breakups in 13 games.
Fred Warner will man the Mike linebacker spot, but the Will LB who’s on the field for all three downs could be a position battle to watch in camp with Greenlaw and Al-Shaair duking it out.