Ex-49ers 1st Rounder Open to Return, Rejoining Former Roommate

Getty Solomon Thomas and Christian McCaffrey on September 10, 2017.

Solomon Thomas once lived with Christian McCaffrey as both were becoming NFL prospects in Palo Alto, California.

Thomas now sounds like he doesn’t want McCaffrey as the only Stanford representative on the San Francisco 49ers.

While the defensive tackle is unfortunately known to 49er fans as a botched first round draft pick at No. 3 overall back in 2017, the 2023 unrestricted free agent gushed about how his former Cardinal teammate performed with the 49ers to Matt Maiocco and Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area on Wednesday, February 8 — to the point he would love to play with “Run CMC” again.

“Oh, my gosh, Christian McCaffrey is one of the best guys I know,” Thomas told Maiocco and Chan while at Super Bowl Radio Row in Phoenix. “Just great human being. Great player, great teammate. You can ask for a better guy. And then the way he just fit like a puzzle piece in this offense, and it’s crazy.”

Again, Thomas isn’t surprised by how impactful McCaffrey became for the 49ers right away in reigniting the offense and helping spearhead a run to the NFC title game, the first conference championship game experience for McCaffrey.

“I feel like people forgot how great he was. They forgot the All-Pro player. They forgot offensive player of the year, MVP-type player he is. And then they just got reminded this year about the greatness of Christian McCaffrey. And I’m excited for him,” Thomas said.

Thomas believes McCaffrey will soon have the keys to the 49ers offense. And with that, he let it be known he would love to play with him again.

“He’s going to run this offense and run this league for a long time. I’m one of his biggest fans, former roommate [and] former teammate. [I] would love to play with him again. He’s a great guy. [I] love my guy,” Thomas said.

Thomas Linked With Ex-49er

Thomas signed a one-year, $2,250,000 deal with the New York Jets last offseason — which reunited him with his former defensive coordinator with the 49ers Robert Saleh.

The 27-year-old never got the chance to start in any of the 17 games. But became a rotational piece for Saleh’s defensive line.

He ended up finishing with 26 combined tackles, 13 solo stops, two tackles for a loss and 0.5 sacks. He earned a base salary of $1,434,000 in 2022 per Spotrac.

Thomas Was up for Award

Thomas was in Phoenix as the Jets’ representative for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honored his work in the mental health field. The award was eventually won by Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys.

Thomas is now in a position to play for his fourth franchise since coming into the league as the first-ever draft pick for general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. He spent four seasons with the 49ers but struggled with staying healthy and producing a consistent pass rush — producing no more than three sacks each season in the Bay Area. If he lands elsewhere, he’ll play for his third team in the last three seasons.

But again, seeing his old roommate thriving again in the Bay Area is fueling his hope to rejoin him at some point in his career.