Recent reports have indicated that the 49ers are unlikely to use the franchise tag on defensive lineman Arik Armstead this offseason, which could mean that Armstead will be playing for a different team in 2020. However, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com says the Niners will make an effort to keep their former first-round pick in the fold.
Armstead, playing on the fifth-year option year of his rookie contract, has absolutely exploded in 2019. After posting modest sacks totals in each of his first four seasons — and after missing 18 games between the 2016-17 campaigns — Armstead has 10 sacks this year, and he has been equally adept at defending the run. While San Francisco’s offseason additions of Nick Bosa and Dee Ford certainly help divert the attention of opposing offenses, Armstead has absorbed plenty of double-teams of his own, and he is productive both on the interior of the line and on the edge.
Although the relatively quiet start to his career could dampen his earning potential to some degree, Armstead will certainly land a considerable raise from the $9MM he is taking home this year. The franchise tag would cost about $18MM, which is not feasible for a 49ers club that has a lot of major business to conduct this offseason, and if he does hit the open market, he could land a contract paying him at least $15MM per season.
As such, he may need to take a hometown discount if he wants to remain with the 49ers. After all, San Francisco is expected to prioritize extensions for DeForest Buckner and George Kittle over a new deal for Armstead, and the team is projected to be near the bottom of the league in terms of cap space.
But Armstead would be perfectly content to remain in the Bay Area. “I can’t even imagine myself playing anywhere else really,” Armstead said. “I’m a Northern California guy through and through, and to be a part of kind of the down times here and be a part of going through the adversity and then being part of this season, I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
Gotta find a way to keep him. Funnel money into an off shore bank account or something.
The Dolphins love having guys that show up once every 5 years.
It’s a minor gripe since they’re playing so well this year (and I’m not a 49ers fan anyway), but I never really understood why they traded a good draft pick for Dee Ford and locked him up to an expensive deal with all these other guys to pay, and all that talent on the defensive line.
They probably had a good idea that the Cardinals were taking Kyler so they’d end up with Bosa too. It just didn’t seem like the best use of resources at the time.
The niners haven’t had a really good pass rush since the Aldon Smith days. So, I think they just wanted to make it one of their strengths again
When last seen, Aldon was using his quickness to elude the law.