Fred Warner sends a Super Bowl warning to the rest of the NFL ahead of 49ers’ 2026 season

Fred Warner unfortunately finished the 2025 season injured, but he is expected to be fully healthy for next year. Even before the San Francisco 49ers begin the upcoming 2026 season, Warner made it clear that the Super Bowl is the team’s ultimate goal.

Attention to all NFL teams, this is what Warner recently said in what sounded like a warning: “It’s only a matter of time. Next year we’re winning it [the Super Bowl]. I guarantee it. Next year,” the 49ers defensive star said on the Feb. 6 episode of the Pardon My Take podcast.

It’s a bold promise, but Warner knows what it’s like to reach and play in a Super Bowl. He has appeared in two big games, Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LVIII, both losses for the 49ers, but still valuable postseason experience.

The reaction to Warner’s promise was not positive

The replies on X and other social media platforms, along with articles from blogs that cover the 49ers, were far from favorable. Some fans supported him, but the majority said it was reckless to make that claim given San Francisco’s long history of injuries.

“Fred, I love the confidence, but with our injury history let’s take it one game at a time next season. And somebody tell the HC & GM to draft better and invest in that O-line if we wanna get past SEA. Also tell the HC to stop running your players into the ground, especially CMC…,” wrote King Louie on X (@iswaggygrossjr).

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The 49ers have indeed been plagued by injuries over the past two seasons. Warner himself suffered another early injury in Week 4 of the 2024 season, and in 2025 he made it only to Week 6 before a fractured ankle sidelined him for the rest of the year.

“The 49ers have enough to deal with on electrical substations, Great Disappointments, and the Candlestick Curse. Now we’re going to guarantee Super Bowls?” Patrick Holloway wrote in an article for NinersNation.com.

“This statement could be taken similarly to Rex Ryan’s Super Bowl prediction for the New York Jets in 2010. Back then, Ryan, as the Jets’ head coach, guaranteed a Super Bowl victory. The Jets wound up losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship.”