Former Cal Star Alex Mack Signs 3-Year Deal With 49ers

Standout NFL center is coming back to the Bay Area

Former Cal standout Alex Mack is returning to the Bay Area.

The veteran free-agent center, who played last season with the Atlanta Falcons, signed a three-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers, the team announced Thursday.

Initially, it was reported that it would be a one-year $5.5 million deal, but even though Mack will turn 36 years old next November, the 49ers apparently expect Mack to be their center for next three seasons.

Mack is a six-time Pro Bowler who started all but two games during his five seasons in Atlanta.

He was released by the Falcons after the season, mainly because he will turn 36 years old in November. Mack said before the 2020 season started that he was not sure whether he would retire after that season, but made it clear after the season that he wanted to play in 2021.

Mack is familiar with the offensive system used by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, because Shanahan was the Falcons' offensive coordinator while Mack was in Atlanta and Shanahan was the Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator when Mack played for the Browns.

Mack indicated last month that he might be interested in signing with the 49ers.

“Kyle is an incredible coach,” Mack said then. “He’s an incredible coach, great person, strong motivator and runs an offense that is something that I’d know really well and that I performed very well in. Yeah, that said, they [the 49ers] are a very enticing thing.”

The center position is important in the Shanahan offense, which is why the 49ers signed Weston Richburg to a five-year, $47.5 million contract in 2018. However, Richburg is expected to retire this offseason after undergoing four surgeries since the end of the 2018 season, creating an immediate need at the position..

Grant Cohn, who operates All 49ers, provided this video comment on the move:

Mack was a three-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection while at Cal and was twice named the conference's top offensive lineman, in 2007 and 2008. He was the 21st overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, by the Cleveland Browns.

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Cover photo of Alex Mack is a USA TODAY pool photo

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