Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

The San Francisco 49ers announced Wednesday they agreed to a one-year contract with inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite.

The 29-year-old will remain in the fold for 2016, per a news release on the 49ers' official website. Wilhoite played 12 games last season and started all of them, registering 85 combined tackles and an interception.

Wilhoite, who was a restricted free agent and was offered a tender in March, has had quite the career trajectory in San Francisco. After going undrafted and playing the 2011 campaign in the UFL, he caught on with the Niners' practice squad the following season and ultimately elevated himself to the active roster.

Since then, Wilhoite has only seen his role increase. He started all 16 games in 2014 and was a fixture on the front seven again last season, only missing the final four contests due to a high-ankle sprain.

The sudden retirements of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, along with a brutal knee injury suffered by NaVorro Bowman in the 2013-14 playoffs, created opportunities for Wilhoite to fill in over the past two years.

To his credit, the veteran has capitalized and carved out a fine career in San Francisco, which will now continue for at least one more season.

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Bowman came back last year to accrue a whopping 154 combined tackles. The Niners also acquired Gerald Hodges in a trade this past October to bolster depth at inside linebacker, so Wilhoite faces serious competition for reps as he plays out a prove-it deal.