Source: 49ers send LB Kwon Alexander to Saints in cost-cutting trade

The 49ers made a move to cut costs and create more salary cap flexibility before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.

Linebacker Kwon Alexander, and his cap hits of more than $15 million over the next two seasons, was sent to the New Orleans Saints in a trade on Monday, a league source confirmed to The Bee. ESPN was first to report the trade.

San Francisco will receive a conditional fifth-round draft pick and linebacker Kiko Alonso, according to an NFL Network report.

Alexander, 26, joined the 49ers on a four-year, $54 million contract in 2019 becoming one of the highest paid linebackers in the NFL. But his year and change with San Francisco was marred by injuries.

He joined the 49ers after tearing his ACL with the Buccaneers during the 2018 season. Midway through 2019, he tore a pectoral muscle in a Halloween victory over the Arizona Cardinals that cost him the second half of the regular season. He returned off injured reserve for the playoffs to play in a bit role during the team’s Super Bowl run before having surgery after the season to repair a biceps injury.

Alexander has started 13 regular season games since signing with San Francisco, recording 64 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. He was initially signed to fill the void left by former first-round pick Reuben Foster, who was cut during the 2018 season amid a string of legal troubles involving his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

Alexander is known for his fiery personality and energy he brings to the defense. He created the linebackers’ “Hot Boyzz” personas that became a rallying cry during the 2019 season. But between the injuries and production — Alexander has a knack for missing tackles and over running plays — the cash-strapped 49ers decided it was best to move on.

The team thinks highly of 2018 fifth-round draft pick Dre Greenlaw, who made one of the biggest plays of the 2019 season when he tackled Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister inches short of the goal line in the 2019 regular season finale that earned San Francisco the top seed in the NFC. Greenlaw is still on his rookie contract and slated to cost $930,429 and $1.05 million against the salary cap over the next two seasons and is already considered a high-level starter.

The 49ers before the trade had roughly $9.4 million in cap space for 2021, according to Overthecap.com, with the salary cap expected to shrink from its pre-pandemic projection of $210 million to $176 million. Moving on from Alexander is expected to create over $10 million in additional cap room for 2021.

Alexander will return to familiar territory. He played at LSU and spent the first four years of his career in the NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Alonso, meanwhile, will return to his childhood home. He grew up in nearby Los Gatos, roughly 20 minutes south of 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara. He was a second-round pick of the Buffalo Bills out of Oregon in 2013 and also spent time with the Eagles and Dolphins before landing in New Orleans this offseason in a trade for outside linebacker Vince Biegel.

Alonso, 30, is making $4 million this season and is slated for unrestricted free agency in the spring. He hasn’t appeared in a game this season after tearing his ACL in a playoff game last January. He had been on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) but returned to practice earlier this month.

This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 10:24 AM.