Arik Armstead, a veteran defensive lineman, signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 49ers dismissed him this offseason due to their inability to come to an agreement on a restructured contract.
However, Armstead stated on Thursday at the 15-minute mark of his Third and Long podcast that the Niners’ only offer to him as part of the proposed restructuring was a one-year, $6 million contract with incentives up to roughly $8 million. He claimed that this amount made him feel “extremely disrespected.”
“I don’t feel that level of compensation is [anywhere] near the type of player I am,” he stated. “Not simply the kind of player I am, but also the commitments I’ve made to the game, my team, and myself
The fact that Armstead missed 13 games in the previous two seasons and would have to pay a $18 million salary cap penalty in 2024 was a factor in the Niners’ calculations.
“At his number, we had to adjust it,” general manager John Lynch said earlier this week to reporters. “Arik made a self-bet. And since his market was present, I believe he made the right decision.”
The Niners changed course and acquired defensive tackle Maliek Collins from the Houston Texans in exchange for a far more manageable $8.4 million contract charge. In the last two seasons, the 28-year-old has only missed three games and has accumulated 8.5 sacks as opposed to Armstead’s five. Moreover, he is two years younger.
David Lombardi@LombardiHimself
Also, consider the 2024 price 49ers are paying for Armstead’s replacement, Maliek Collins: $8.47m.<br><br>This suggests SF’s max budget for the spot might’ve been ~$8m, the upper limit of initial offer to Armstead.<br><br>Could just be they tried to fit AA into tight salary-cap realities
The Niners could potentially use the savings accrued from that pivot to extend wideout Brandon Aiyuk. Those talks have gotten underway, albeit at the preliminary stages.
“We’re trying to talk about some parameters of things,” Lynch said. “We’re having discussions. That’s a good thing. There’s no doubt that because we’ve been aggressive so much, there’s some realities that we are going to be faced with moving forward. You just can’t have everybody. But Brandon is somebody that we’d love to keep around.”
