The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly preparing a godfather offer to lure former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh back into the fold after a disappointing end to the 2024 NFL season.
49ers Are Preparing To Make Robert Saleh the NFL’s Highest-Paid DC
After almost four seasons as the head coach of the New York Jets, Saleh is one of the most sought-after free agents on the coaching market. Saleh has already interviewed with the 49ers for their defensive coordinator role.
Saleh is due for head coaching interviews with the Dallas Cowboys and the Las Vegas Raiders. He has already interviewed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their head coach role. However, 49ers beat writer Matt Barrows reports that he has a potentially huge payday waiting with his former employers.
The #49ers are reportedly are willing to make Robert Saleh the “highest paid defensive coordinator in all the land”, per @mattbarrows
via @timkawakami pod | h/t @Coach_Yac pic.twitter.com/HqnZddduUi
— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) January 17, 2025
Barrows appeared on Tim Kawakami’s latest podcast to detail what he’s heard about the 49ers’ search for a DC. This a part of what Barrows had to say on the subject:
“It’s Robert Saleh or bust, really. Because they haven’t done much work with anybody else to this point. I’ve heard that they already told Saleh, ‘We will make you the highest-paid defensive coordinator in all the land if you sign with us.’ So now it’s just a matter of waiting for Saleh.”
According to Barrows, the 49ers seem confident in their ability to bring Saleh back into the fold. However, this also means that their front office could have to pick from a depleted field of candidates if Saleh takes up a head coaching role.
Barrows also mentioned that the front office has looked at Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich as an alternative.
Under Saleh, the 2019 49ers had one of the best defensive seasons by any franchise this century. The 49ers led the league in hurry percentage that year at 14.7%, while also being able to pressure the quarterback on 28% of dropbacks.
The Niners’ 2024 season was ravaged by injuries to many key players on both sides of the ball, preventing them from returning to the playoffs for a third straight season. This meant that the unit slipped from a consistent top-10 finisher in PFN’s Defense+ metric to 26th this year.
Even Saleh would be hard-pressed to get desirable results in the absence of the right personnel.
