Faced with a genuine possibility of losing one of their five first-round defensive linemen in free agency, the 49ers are not giving up on keeping Arik Armstead in the fold.
The team holds barely $13MM in cap space and is in the early stages of talks with George Kittle and DeForest Buckner on what will be mammoth extensions. However, the 49ers still want to extend Armstead. And they are working on a deal, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets.
Armstead completed a dominant contract year, posting a team-high 10 sacks, and was productive in the playoffs for a 49ers team that held a fourth-quarter lead in Super Bowl LIV. But the 2015 first-round pick was not exactly a dependable asset during his first four seasons, totaling nine sacks from 2015-18 and missing 18 games due to injury in that span.
While Nick Bosa looms as a surefire extension candidate, he is under contract through 2023. An extension for the 26-year-old Armstead pact may not overlap with a future Bosa accord. As for the 49ers of 2020, they have both Jimmie Ward and Emmanuel Sanders as free agents — at positions featuring less talent than San Francisco features up front. A Dee Ford release would save the 49ers $9MM-plus, while cutting Jerick McKinnon would add $4MM to that. If the 49ers find a taker for Marquise Goodwin, they could save an additional $3MM.
An Armstead re-up would still be tricky and hamstring the 49ers’ offseason efforts. A franchise tag in the $18MM vicinity would pose a bigger impediment, so an extension makes the most sense. But with Chris Jones, Matt Judon, Bud Dupree and possibly Yannick Ngakoue set to be franchise-tagged, it may be difficult for the 49ers to convince Armstead to sign a deal before seeing the interest that would come his way on a thinning pass rusher market.
First move after the Extension = Buy an “E” & a “C” !!
I think this is a bad move for the Niners. I don’t trust his production and injuries to not revert to his pre contract year status. Let someone else pay him and save the money for DeFo.
Agreed
What you also have to consider is this is the first season Armstead was fully healthy, the first time he actually had another quality end on the other side, the 1st time he did not consistently see countless double teams, he did not have to bounce back and forth from the outside to the inside of the line consistently, he was able to rotate out when he needed a breather because of their depth and stay fresh, and the 49ers new DL coach also helped Armstead improve as well..
Those are just some of the main reasons why I truly believe Armstead’s newfound success is here to stay..He has always been a solid defender against the run, and he’s always been a pain for opposing team’s lines, but he now has some running mates that’s allowing him alot more opportunities to get those sacks that were elusive before..
I mean, obviously they cannot keep all of their good to great d-lineman, with Buck, AA, Ford, Bosa, Jones, Blair, Street, J.Taylor, and S.Thomas, but hopefully Ford can stay healthy, and they can continue to develop Street and Taylor…
Jones stepped up in a major way as the man in the middle. Street and Taylor looked very promising before they got hurt, and Blair has been just an excellent reserve..Even still, it would really hurt having to try and replace Armstead…Although, with that being said, they need more help in their secondary, and they need to add another playmaker on offense.. Upgrades at those positions, other than some key finds with their limited draft picks, are not going to come cheap..
This is a key off-season for the 49ers, but I have faith in Paraag, Lynch, and Shanny that they’ll make the right moves, structure the deals they make effectively and efficiently, and keep this train rolling in the right direction!!
With some trades & restructures to some deals, plus cut some guys who aren’t really going to play a part or didn’t play a part in the teams success this year, they will feee up some good money. Probably let Ward go as much as I love how well he played this year, draft his replacement. They’ll be able to extend him. They can extend Kittle & Buckner as well, make this years lay mostly bonus, the real money comes in when the cap rises significantly next year! As much as I want to stick with Jimmy, they could actually get Brady for like 22 million and save 5 million there as well, plus get another late 1st rd pick from the Pats. All just brainstorming. Me thinking out loud lol. I don’t want this to happen but it could. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Something is going on, there’s too much talk about!