The San Francisco 49ers invested quite a bit in their linebacker corps this offseason. They gave free agent Malcolm Smith a five-year $26.5 million contract, and then traded into the first round two weeks ago to select Alabama’s Reuben Foster.
Foster is coming off February rotator cuff surgery, and joins a defense that includes NaVorro Bowman, coming off a torn Achilles last fall. Health will remain a question mark until both show what they’ve got on the field, but John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have said both men are ahead of schedule.