Garrett Celek Retires From NFL
It looks like Garrett Celek is hanging up his cleats. The 49ers tight end announced his retirement from the NFL in an Instagram post Friday afternoon.
Celek entered the league back in 2012, and spent all eight years of his career with San Francisco. One of the longest-tenured members of the organization, he became a fan favorite and was a leader in the locker room. He inked a four-year deal worth $10.20MM back in 2016, which just expired after the Super Bowl. An undrafted free agent from Michigan State, he made the 53-man roster as a fourth tight end his rookie year and steadily earned more playing time. He never had a massive role as a receiver but was always a key contributor as a blocker, and he did have some decent pass-catching years.
In 2016 and 2017 he had at least 336 yards. His best season as a receiver was in 2016, when he reeled in 29 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns. He missed some significant time due to injuries throughout the course of his career, and was placed on injured reserve after appearing in only five games this season. The younger brother of former Eagles tight end Brent Celek, he carved out a heck of a career for an UDFA. All of us here at PFR wish him the best in retirement.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/7/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: P Sam Irwin-Hill
San Francisco 49ers
- Re-signed: C Jake Brendel
49ers Sign DL Willie Henry, Four Others To Futures Deals
After passing along the names of seven players that signed futures deals with the 49ers yesterday, including CB Teez Tabor, we have five more to report today. One of those players is DL Willie Henry, a former fourth-round pick of the Ravens.
Baltimore selected Henry, a Michigan product, in the 2016 draft. After sitting out his entire rookie campaign, he was a key piece of the club’s D-line rotation in 2017, appearing in 14 games (three starts) and compiling 33 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and five passes defensed. But an umbilical hernia limited him to just three games in 2018, and the Ravens cut him prior to the 2019 season.
His past performance made him a very popular man on the workout circuit in 2019, but he did not sign with anyone. Perhaps he can carve out a role for himself as a member of the 49ers’ stout defensive front.
Here are the other players who signed futures deals with San Francisco today:
Latest On 49ers, Jimmie Ward
The 49ers have a number of critical decisions to make this offseason, and one of them concerns safety Jimmie Ward, a pending free agent. San Francisco selected Ward in the first round of the 2014 draft, and he has spent his entire six-year career with the club.
He was also eligible for unrestricted free agency last offseason, but he had to settle for a fairly modest one-year pact, largely as a result of his injury history and his relatively uneven tenure with the Niners to that point. But he turned in his best season to date in 2019, starting all 13 regular season games in which he appeared (plus three more in the playoffs), and he finally settled in at the free safety position after playing various roles in the defensive backfield in previous years.
Advanced metrics were fond of his work, and he was a key component of San Francisco’s suffocating secondary, which was No. 2 in the league in defensive DVOA. As such, he could be in for a lucrative multiyear pact, and he hopes he gets one from the 49ers. “This is where I would like to be,” Ward said (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area). “I like to continue playing for this great organization.”
Ward acknowledges that the club has a number of other players it needs to take care of, so he does not know if he fits into the long-term plans. That is especially true given that the Niners are near the bottom of the league in projected cap space in 2020. “The 49ers have the upper hand right now,” Ward said.
But regardless of where he signs, Ward wants to stay at safety. “Yes, it’s amazing I can do other things, too,” he said. “But leave me at safety. That’s what I love to do. That’s what I’m most passionate about. Basically, if it don’t work out with the 49ers, I’m going to look at any possibilities with teams that want me to play safety.”
RB Jerick McKinnon Wants To Remain With 49ers
The 49ers haven’t exactly gotten a return on their investment when it comes to RB Jerick McKinnon. The club gave the former Viking a four-year, $30MM contract in March 2018, but a torn ACL cost him all of the 2018 season, and a separate knee ailment kept off the field for the entirety of the 2019 campaign, so he may never play a single snap for San Francisco.
However, we heard in December that the Niners are open to bringing the 27-year-old back in 2020, provided that he accepts a pay cut. He is due a $6.5MM salary next year, but the club could save $4.5MM against the cap by releasing him, and given the depth of its RB corps and the need to extend star players, a release would be quite tempting.
McKinnon fully appreciates the reality of his situation and is willing to work with the 49ers if it means he gets to return to the Bay Area next season. “I’m willing to do whatever,” McKinnon said (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). “The organization knows I want to be a part of this team, so when that time comes there will be a talk between both parties.”
McKinnon also said that the Niners have not yet informed him of their plans for him, but that will probably happen soon. Fellow RB Raheem Mostert was a revelation in 2019, racking up 5.6 yards per carry and eight TDs in the regular season, and he was even better in the playoffs. Restricted free agent Matt Breida was pretty effective as well, and the club will likely retain him via a multiyear pact or an RFA tender.
Tevin Coleman was decent in his first year with San Francisco, but the team could part ways with him and save $4.55MM against the cap while absorbing no dead money. Speculatively, if the 49ers feel good enough about McKinnon’s health, they could cut Coleman and return McKinnon — who is easily the best pass catcher of the bunch and who would therefore offer a nice complement to Mostert and Breida — at a reduced rate.
49ers’ Arik Armstead Open To Tag
Players often bristle at the notion of the franchise tag, but defensive lineman Arik Armstead isn’t necessarily opposed to it. The former-first round pick says he’s intent on staying with the 49ers and his comments suggest that he wouldn’t hold out if he’s tagged.
“I would love being here,” Armstead said (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com) “Trying to go back to the Super Bowl, so however that is seen or has to get done, it’s not really my decision what they want to do with me.”
Armstead didn’t really produce early on in his career and injuries robbed him of 18 games between 2016 and 2017. In his first four seasons, Armstead tallied just nine sacks in total, but everything clicked for him in 2019. The Oregon product notched ten sacks in his walk year and bottled up opposing running backs with equal glee. The Niners’ attack featuring Armstead, Nick Bosa, and Dee Ford was the most ferocious in the NFL, and San Francisco would do well to keep the core in tact.
Still, the Niners will have to keep their budget in mind. Armstead played more snaps at defensive end than defensive tackle in 2019, meaning that his franchise tag will cost around $19.3MM, instead of $15.5MM. A long-term deal could make sense for both sides, but the Niners have to leave enough room to extend key players like DeForest Buckner and George Kittle.
Speaking of Kittle – it’s expected that he’ll land at least $13MM/year on a new contract. That would make him the highest-paid tight end in the league by a healthy margin and slot him far ahead of Super Bowl foe Travis Kelce.
Browns To Interview Joe Woods
The Browns will interview 49ers defensive backs coach Joe Woods for their defensive coordinator job today (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). We’ve heard that Woods already has a handshake deal in place for the position, but it’s not necessarily a done deal until Woods puts pen to paper. 
In late January, we heard that the 49ers had not given up on retaining Woods, despite the enormous opportunity in front of him. It’s possible that the NFC champs are still looking for a way to keep Woods on their staff, which would mean that the coach is not necessarily ticketed for Cleveland. By the end of the business day, we should know the outcome. We still expect Woods to become the Browns’ new DC, but stranger things have happened.
Woods has a strong relationship with new Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, dating back to their days with the Vikings. If he joins up with Cleveland, it’s expected that Woods will bring some of his assistants from SF along with him, which gives the 49ers even more reason to try and hang on to him.
Woods, 49, has 16 years of NFL coaching experience for five different teams. During his run in Denver, he spent two years as their coordinator. This past season, he helped the Niners’ D go from 23rd in pass-defense DVOA to No. 2 in the NFL. That was a huge key to their success in 2019 and the Browns (No. 17 in pass-defense DVOA) are hoping to bring some of that magic to their defense.
49ers Add Teez Tabor, Six Others On Futures Deals
Teez Tabor will have a chance to continue in his development with the 49ers. The team will keep the former second-round cornerback around this offseason via reserve/futures deal, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (on Twitter).
The 49ers initially added Tabor to their practice squad early this past season and will attempt to see if the Florida alum can carve out a spot in their cornerback rotation next season. Tabor, 24, did not see action for the NFC champions and has not played since the 2018 season.
The Lions cut the ex-Gator prospect just before the regular season began. Tabor played in 22 games with Detroit, making five starts.
Here are the rest of the 49ers’ reserve/futures deals thus far:
- LB Joey Alfieri
- G Kofi Amichia
- CB Jermaine Kelly
- G Ross Reynolds
- DB Jacob Thieneman
- WR Chris Thompson
2020 Draft Order
Super Bowl LIV is in the books, which means the order for the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft is set. By virtue of their 31-20 win Sunday night, the Chiefs will have the final pick in the first round. The 49ers dropping to 5-2 in Super Bowls will result in the NFC champions approaching the podium at No. 31.
Here is the full first-round order:
1. Bengals (2-14)
2. Redskins (3-13)
3. Lions (3-12-1)
4. Giants (4-12)
5 Dolphins (5-11)
6. Chargers (5-11)
7. Panthers (5-11)
8. Cardinals (5-10-1)
9. Jaguars (6-10)
10. Browns (6-10)
11. Jets (7-9)
12. Raiders (7-9)
13. Colts (7-9)
14. Buccaneers (7-9)
15. Broncos (7-9)
16. Falcons (7-9)
17. Cowboys (8-8)
18. Dolphins (via Steelers 8-8)
19. Raiders (via Bears 8-8)
20. Jaguars (via Rams 9-7)
21. Eagles (9-7)
22. Bills (10-6)
23. Patriots (12-4)
24. Saints (13-3)
25. Vikings (10-6)
26. Dolphins (via Texans 10-6)
27. Seahawks (11-5)
28. Ravens (14-2)
29. Titans (9-7)
30. Packers (13-3)
31. 49ers (13-3)
32. Chiefs (12-4)
49ers To Prioritize Extension For George Kittle
The 2019 NFL season is officially in the books. The 49ers just lost the Super Bowl in heartbreaking fashion, but they have to shake it off quickly and turn their attention to the offseason. Star tight end George Kittle is set to enter the final year of his rookie deal in 2020, and it sounds like San Francisco isn’t going to let him get anywhere close to free agency.
The 49ers are going to prioritize an extension for the Iowa product, and negotiations will begin “as soon as after the game,” sources told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter video link). Garafolo thinks Kittle will “blow the lid off” the top of the tight end market, and that $13MM annually is the floor of what he can expect to get on his new contract. As Garafolo points out the current top of the market is around $9-10MM for guys like Travis Kelce, so it sounds like the market is truly going to be reset.
Given the numbers Kittle has put up during his brief time in the league, those figures aren’t shocking. A fifth-round pick in 2017, Kittle has performed well beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. In 2018 he set the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end with 1,377, and he’s been an All-Pro in back to back years.
In addition to his receiving prowess he’s also one of the best blockers in the league, and he’s the engine of San Francisco’s NFC championship winning offense. As Garafolo’s NFL Network colleague Ian Rapoport pointed out in the same video, the 49ers have adopted an organizational philosophy of locking guys up early and rewarding their own, so it should only be a matter of time before Kittle gets paid. It should help the sting of the Super Bowl loss. The 26-year-old recently revealed that he’s been playing with a torn labrum, but that he doesn’t plan on getting surgery.