Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy is one of the best remaining NFL free agents, and he has his next team in mind.
“I want to throw out a team that a lot of people may not know. Who cares at this point, you know? I’d really like to play with my little brother, Fred Warner, with the Niners,” Van Noy said on Tuesday’s edition of “Up & Adams.” “I think they’ve got something cooking over there. I know they love Joey Bosa, right, because Nick and all that, I get that. But I would love to play with my little brother. That’s my guy, and I think they’ve got something cooking over there.”
Van Noy also expressed that the door remains open for a return to the Ravens, with whom he spent the last three seasons (2023-25).
The 35-year-old linebacker earned his only Pro Bowl nod in a career-high 12.5-sack campaign with the Ravens in 2024. Last season, he totaled two sacks, one interception, four passes defended and 20 combined tackles across 15 games.
If the 35-year-old Van Noy inked a deal with San Francisco, he would join a defense that was 11th in the NFL in opponent rushing yards (107.8 per game), 13th in opponent points (21.8 per game), 20th in opponent yards (340.2 per game), 25th in opponent passing yards (232.4 per game) and last in sacks (20.0) in 2025.
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At the same time, it was a 49ers’ defense that was without star linebackers Nick Bosa (torn ACL), Fred Warner (ankle) and defensive lineman and 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams (torn ACL), among others, for the majority of the season due to injury. They also managed to hold the defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles to 19 points on their home turf in the NFC wild-card round before losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round. San Francisco has a new defensive coordinator this season in former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, who takes over for Robert Saleh, the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
Van Noy spent the first two-plus seasons of his NFL career with the Detroit Lions (2014-16) before being traded to the New England Patriots during the 2016 season. He would play in New England through 2019 before playing for the Miami Dolphins in 2020 and then returning to the Patriots in 2021. The linebacker also played for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022 before embarking on a three-year stint in Baltimore.
