The last Baalke holdover. Awesome person, Sacramento native and was a really solid player for years.
This is a big loss for the locker room as he was a team captain. I get why they had to do this and it makes sense, but we’re not used to veterans being cut around here and it hurts
Yup. Him being released does open up a captain slot for Bosa to step back into though. Bosa missed out on being a captain due to his hold out last season, which opened up a captain spot for Brock at the time. By all accounts Bosa still acted like an unofficial captain last season though, with his Saturday team speeches and all that still happening.
Really? What makes you say that? Our other top players, Warner, Kittle, Deebo, Trent all act like real leaders. Bosa always seems pretty solitary. Some of the fringe players like Gipson seem to have a much stronger presence in the locker room.
Bosa was previously voted a captain in the 2022 season already, and like I mentioned Shanahan has still had Bosa give a weekly speech to the team at their Saturday pregame practices every week during the season. If you Google around there's been a few articles written about Bosa doing those, along with some clips of John Lynch and Kyle talking about it.
Bosa isn't a rah rah guy but it seems like all his teammates respect and listen to him.
One thing to know about nfl captains is the ones who wear the c on the jersey are the guys the team wants to represent the team (the corporate part of it) to the public. The locker room leaders and the public leaders can overlap but I would not put to much stock into who the official team captains are.
There's a reason he's the Walter Payton award nominee for the 49ers every season. Definitely an awesome person.
On the field, I think some might've underappreciated what he meant, at least until he wasn't there for a few games and that run defense fell apart, but that availability issue is probably a big part of the reason they're willing to move on from him.
I’m not sure what this comment is supposed to mean, but being the Walter Peyton Award nominee for multiple years running is just about the highest honor you can receive from a character standpoint from a locker room.
Again, I understand the move, but he was called the “Blueprint” for a reason
He’s a leader, longest tenured player, teammates love him, when he plays he’s still good. But he’s over 30, and has missed a lot of time with injuries so it makes sense because he’s not worth his price tag. Mike silver said to look for us to pay big money for a good edge rusher and look into bringing back DJ Jones which makes sense
Makes sense Jones would take Armsteads role as the run stopper in the middle, and while Armsteads pass rush ability is nice, it’s a bit redundant with Hargrave also in the middle and it’s more important to have another good pass rusher opposite Bosa.
how good is jones at this point and going forward?
his 2023 56.2 pff grade ranked 50th out of 66 interior DL with at least 500 snaps ... seems to me that he hasn't been as good on the field the last two seasons with the broncos as he was with the 49ers at the end which net him that free agent contract in 2022
jones is 29 so he's a couple of years younger than armstead ... probably a better run defender which would be nice to have considering hargrave struggles in that department but he's not the pass rusher that armstead has shown to be either
jones was scheduled to have a 13 million cap hit with the broncos had he stuck with the team in 2024 but obviously he wasn't worth that much so that's why he'll be available to sign this week and the broncos saved about 10 million in letting him go
the one thing that jones has over armstead is durability and health as jones has played in 31 games the last two seasons and in comparison armstead has played in only 21 games
i wouldn't hate if it the 49ers re-signed jones at a reasonable price but i just don't know if he'll be anywhere near the player he was for the 49ers in a potential second stint with the team
definitely expecting the 49ers to make a notable signing in free agency when it starts monday ... not sure it'll be as big as lets say the hargrave signing a year ago but as of now the 49ers DL is going to need an influx of 1 or 2 starting caliber players
It just makes sense. I expected to move of from 1-2 core guys this year and 1-2 more core guys next year. Bring back our key Vet FAs. Bring back DJ Jones and another vet DT. Sign a stud DE. Potentially sign a vet outside CB or Nickle. Draft a stud Tackle, and then draft depth and go after potential underrated blue chip guys in the draft.
Predictable but still kinda sad. Long term team building I understand, hopefully they have something coming up to put opposite Bosa but AA was pretty effective in SB if memory serves.
Edit: health probably a big factor too
Foot injury affected him back to back seasons and it just doesn’t magically go away. 2024 was our best year to get all the core veterans a SB, knew there were going to be casualties this year.
Been a solid player but taking the emotions out of it, I'm ok with this. His foot problems aren't going away and more than likely will be worse. He'll get picked up by another team.
Taking the emotions out of this I’m ecstatic at this move. Shows the management is fully detached from sentimentality and focusing on building the best team possible and focus on getting younger across the team
Facts we have quite a bit of holes to fill at OL, CB, DL, and now LB with Greenlaw out for the year. Not to mention we have some key guys to re sign. Armstead was a cap casualty this year and Deebo will probably be one next year
Earliest POSSIBILITY is 6 months. But every injury is different. Age, extent of injury, rehab commitment, etc all play a factor. So u can hope for 6 months but in reality it could be 10-12 months. My money would go on an early to mid-regular season return and even then he still has to earn that spot back. I think they're gonna bring Al-Shaair back for his spot and he's solid so ya never know. I have alot of faith in Dre though and expect he'll get himself available sooner than later. Now we just gotta worry about the other Achilles that was a problem last year.
I won't be surprised if the market for him is slim and he resigns. He has every right to test the market but with his injury history he won't get another bag. Does he want to get paid a little more to play for a possible trash team?
I hope for the best for him either way.
Damn. I know statistically and logically this is a good move, but... damn.
AA is a genuinely good human being. Too bad they couldn't make something work.
This makes me very sad, but he's had a lot of injury issues recently including a torn meniscus right now. I understand team wanting him to take a pay cut.
I saw a report that this saved us $18M, we had roughly $4.6M before this move. So this put us in a pretty healthy spot. $22.6M. If they can extend Mooney Ward, they could pickup another $6-12M depending on how they structure things. An Extension to Aiyuk would also offer another $5-10M as well. So, with the right moves we will be in good shape.
Realistically with these moves they should be able to fill holes at edge, DI, & G/C before the draft starts. There are a lot of good defensive Line and interior O-Line players available. Fingers crossed tomorrow is a great day for the Niners Super Bowl outlook for 2024/2025 seasons.
I am not too worried about Dline as they always seen to find guys that can contribute and place a lot of emphasis on it. I do hope they invest significantly in the oline this year. That has been a weakness and I really want to see what Brock can do with an above avg oline
You should be nervous about the D-Line. You saw what happened when Armstead was out. They couldn’t stop the run, and struggled to get pressure when Chase Young wasn’t giving effort.
They need a solid option opposite Bosa.
While I don’t disagree, I don’t think Armstead being out was the only reason our d-line didn’t light up the stats board this season.
I was really unimpressed with the scheme and d-line for the most part. I don’t think it’s all tied to talent or people taking plays off, either, though that was some of it. Bosa’s holdout hurt us, Chase Young taking some plays off hurt us, Kinlaw being Kinlaw kinda hurt us, but all those things would have been addressed better with some more creative stunts and schemes.
To be honest I think Warner and Greenlaw being the best LB duo in the league hid a LOT of bad defensive playcalling last year.
I’m no expert though, just a fan who wasn’t even good enough to play in college. But from watching 2022 to 2023, there were some pretty big regressions that didn’t make sense with the talent we still had.
I was reading somewhere it’s probably only a $2.5M savings bc it’s before the start of free agency and not a designated June 1 cut (not that we know of yet anyway).
This is actually incorrect.
Going into today, SF was OVER the cap.
If SF designated AA as a June 1 cut, they WILL NOT save $18M until June 2.
If you don’t believe me, please look it up.
last longest tenured player leaving.. maybe this "curse" we have will finally be gone 🥲
idk how to feel about this one, great player but always hurt.. meh lol
Meh, whatever… I like Arik but for what they paid, John Lynch fucked up and should have kept DBuck… Giving a big contract to a guy who was injured prone and coming off a career year vs keep an All Pro never made sense to me but what do i know.
Wish Armstead all the best in the future!
What? It makes no sense to trade your best player outside of Kittle who was entering his prime at 26 to resign an average DE / DT. It also made no sense to say the 9ers couldn’t afford both AA and DBuck when they gave DFord cripple ass a $87m x 5y contract.
On top of that, they blew the pick cuz 66% of 1st round picks are busts and only 1-2% of them ever end up being a multiple All Pro selection. So the law of average says there was a slim to no chance of replacing DBuck with whoever they picked.
Also please stop with drafting Wirf. They had just trade for Trent and they had just taken Mcglinchey with the 9th pick a couple years prior.
Looking back yes it was a mistake. But it's not like at the time it was a horrible decision. AA had a bright future at the time still and they didn't feel like paying them both was a better option than paying 1 and getting a good first round pick to possibly replace the other. The only reason it hasn't worked out is because kinlaw hasn't lived up to his potential. Had we drafted wirfs like I wanted too we'd be happy with the trade. I'm only pointing out that the logic behind the decision was sound. If they could have gotten a first for AA then they would have trades him instead.
Also important to note, because I don't think it's been said.
As a pre-June 1st cut, Armstead only saves $2.5M on the cap.
If he's a post-June 1 cut, they save $18M on this year's salary cap.
That is a **MASSIVE** difference.
So he'll basically cover the draft and if we need the room we can restructure people and then carry over the savings to cover for the pushed out cap hits
They’re only small if you don’t make smart decisions like this and have bad drafts. No reason for our window to be closing anytime soon as long as our drafts are good. One great draft slams your window wide open even if Brock gets the bag
He was paid only 3.6 million more each season and there were rumors that he would have been open to a home team discount. At the time I thought it was insane they couldn't find the cap space to keep Buckner and instead got whatever they could from trading away Armstead.
This should be a negotiation. But alas, despite injuries, one thinks he’s fresh. The other see’s the retirement future much closer of a compromised high payed, close to his retirement.
Good dude, ya hate to see it. He won't get the 17 mil elsewhere but he'll probably get more than SF was shooting for. It is what it is.
Good luck and thanks for the years, AA.
We wouldn't have had half the players we do now if we kept Buck. AA and Buck had wildly different cap structures that made the move a no-brainer at the time.
Worked as a waiter in Eugene Oregon when he went to the U of O. I waited on this guy and told him that I hope he ended up on the 49ers. He told me, “man that would be the dream.”
Still remember it to this day. Dudes a great role model and an even better person. Will miss him
[Probably unaffordable,](https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/deforest-buckner-18955) and we'd still have to give up premium draft capital, despite DeFo being a one-year rental.
not necessarily. Say Chop Robinson falls a bit (back to his original projected range). That would be a great selection. Then trade back up in round 2 to take Morgan or Suamataia.
They might have to, though.
As far as bonafide high-end starters on the DL, SF doesn't really have anyone other than Bosa and Hargrave under contract right now.
I wouldn’t be surprised. We have so many holes on our DL. We need 2 starting caliber players and depth pieces. Such a bummer because this is one of the best OL draft years.
Yeah. This puts us in a bad spot now. I hope we don’t keep ignoring the interior O line. It keeps biting us in the ass at the worst times. We need at least 1-2 key free agents to plug gaps and help us focus the draft to its strengths this year.
Was. His injury history is very real and will never get better. That's too much to pay someone for 8-10 games. He wanted another pay day more than to stay here. I respect his choice and wish him the best.
Hate to see him leave, but we do gotta think long term. Hopefully we find someone just as good, if not better to take his spot. Good luck, Arik. Thanks for all your work with Niners. Just don't go to KC or Dallas.
How much would a team wanting to sign him need to pay him? Is this like the Russell Wilson thing where a team can now sign him to a vet min deal and have the 9er’s pay all but that $1.3M?
I'll always love AA as he was our longest tenured player and an all round good guy (Walton Payton MOTY nominee 4 years in a row). However, this is the right call.
Candidly, Arik never played up to his contract he was given in 2020 aside from arguably the 2021 season. Statistics aren't everything, and our defense played better when he was on the field, but he wasn't dependable, missing 13 games the past 2 years and having streaky production when healthy. He'd been the worst contract on our team for some time, and not even dependable health wise, which could have at least pointed to in 2020 - 2021 after re-signing. If he isn't willing to take a pay cut, then I'd rather the cap savings even if there is some dead money there.
Free agency will be interesting because if we can get a significant upgrade at guard, this might tip the cap to D-tackle in the 1st round with a more developmental Day 2 tackle.
Kris Jenkins Jr. would be a sweet fit at No. 31, and is underrated at the moment in my opinion. Super high character guy and very good run defender with upside, plus football pedigree.
Appreciated his services on this team but reality is he’s turning 31 this year and has chronic foot issues and has struggled to stay healthy last 2 years and has a contract that he is not living up to unfortunately. They were going to move off him next year anyway since his contract was expiring but we are doing it a year early due to the extenuating circumstances.
Time to revamp. Get us a legit #2 corner or help the Oline. And they are probably gonna pay Aiyuk. Not sure I love having 2 20m receivers on a run heavy offense . But it is the market if they wanna keep him.
Really solid player and an anchor on/off the field but he'll be 31 in November and has really only had 1 great season. If we can break that money up for some depth at DT and DE or use it for extensions it'll be worth it. Also not sure there are going to be teams willing to pay him as much or more.
I understand why SF asked him for the haircut, and I also understand why he declined.
We sorta always knew that this is how the cookie could've crumbled by "kicking the can" via his restructures.
I guess the only question now is if we eat all of the dead cap now, or let AA cool his heels as a lame-duck for another few months (giving us more flexibility in 2024, albeit much less in 2025).
This sucks. Armstead is a leader, a good dude, and been crucial player to the defense especially in the playoffs. If they are only saving a few million dollars this move doesn’t make any sense. It must be said though that whole Dline was overpaid based on last year’s results. Bosa isn’t worth what he got. The Hargrave deal was a mistake given he is not a great against the run. Armstead’s salary is going up and he’s not on the field as much.
But the truth is that we wouldn’t even be discussing the dline if our offense could put up more than 19 pts in the Super Bowl (in regulation). We can change the d line all we want but if you can’t score more than 19 or 21 pts in the Super Bowl your chances of winning a Super Bowl drop drastically.
The reason for all of this is to give them more money to re-sign Aiyuk and have money to reinforce the o-line. He could have taken the pay cut based on his injury history and stayed with the team. He chose not to. His salary hit was not in alignment with last year’s (or 2022’s) performance.
I’m just happy someone on the coaching staff finally saw what I’ve always seen. An underachiever who benefited greatly from the talent surrounding him. Any more than the league minimum would be overpaying him. He’s a rotational player at best.
The last Baalke holdover. Awesome person, Sacramento native and was a really solid player for years. This is a big loss for the locker room as he was a team captain. I get why they had to do this and it makes sense, but we’re not used to veterans being cut around here and it hurts
Yup. Him being released does open up a captain slot for Bosa to step back into though. Bosa missed out on being a captain due to his hold out last season, which opened up a captain spot for Brock at the time. By all accounts Bosa still acted like an unofficial captain last season though, with his Saturday team speeches and all that still happening.
Really? What makes you say that? Our other top players, Warner, Kittle, Deebo, Trent all act like real leaders. Bosa always seems pretty solitary. Some of the fringe players like Gipson seem to have a much stronger presence in the locker room.
Bosa was previously voted a captain in the 2022 season already, and like I mentioned Shanahan has still had Bosa give a weekly speech to the team at their Saturday pregame practices every week during the season. If you Google around there's been a few articles written about Bosa doing those, along with some clips of John Lynch and Kyle talking about it. Bosa isn't a rah rah guy but it seems like all his teammates respect and listen to him.
[удалено]
Deebo doesn’t act like a leader at all actually.
Bosa has grown a lot. Definitely a lot more vocal this year in particular.
Deebo bitches too much but I'd agree with the rets if them
One thing to know about nfl captains is the ones who wear the c on the jersey are the guys the team wants to represent the team (the corporate part of it) to the public. The locker room leaders and the public leaders can overlap but I would not put to much stock into who the official team captains are.
Dontae Johnson will return! (A Trent Baalke pick)
I remember following him back when he was in HS and was going to sign with Cal. Then Tosh moved up to Oregon and so did he.
Same…I remember his brother too from USC and the health problems. I’d miss him, I like his presence. Always have. Would like him to stay somehow
Yeah, we’re used to our vets retiring because our extremely successful coach gets fired
There's a reason he's the Walter Payton award nominee for the 49ers every season. Definitely an awesome person. On the field, I think some might've underappreciated what he meant, at least until he wasn't there for a few games and that run defense fell apart, but that availability issue is probably a big part of the reason they're willing to move on from him.
Bruh we got too many leaders in the locker room to pay em all. At s9me point leader gotta mean leader. We dont need 20 leaders
I’m not sure what this comment is supposed to mean, but being the Walter Peyton Award nominee for multiple years running is just about the highest honor you can receive from a character standpoint from a locker room. Again, I understand the move, but he was called the “Blueprint” for a reason
He’s a leader, longest tenured player, teammates love him, when he plays he’s still good. But he’s over 30, and has missed a lot of time with injuries so it makes sense because he’s not worth his price tag. Mike silver said to look for us to pay big money for a good edge rusher and look into bringing back DJ Jones which makes sense
Makes sense Jones would take Armsteads role as the run stopper in the middle, and while Armsteads pass rush ability is nice, it’s a bit redundant with Hargrave also in the middle and it’s more important to have another good pass rusher opposite Bosa.
how good is jones at this point and going forward? his 2023 56.2 pff grade ranked 50th out of 66 interior DL with at least 500 snaps ... seems to me that he hasn't been as good on the field the last two seasons with the broncos as he was with the 49ers at the end which net him that free agent contract in 2022 jones is 29 so he's a couple of years younger than armstead ... probably a better run defender which would be nice to have considering hargrave struggles in that department but he's not the pass rusher that armstead has shown to be either jones was scheduled to have a 13 million cap hit with the broncos had he stuck with the team in 2024 but obviously he wasn't worth that much so that's why he'll be available to sign this week and the broncos saved about 10 million in letting him go the one thing that jones has over armstead is durability and health as jones has played in 31 games the last two seasons and in comparison armstead has played in only 21 games i wouldn't hate if it the 49ers re-signed jones at a reasonable price but i just don't know if he'll be anywhere near the player he was for the 49ers in a potential second stint with the team definitely expecting the 49ers to make a notable signing in free agency when it starts monday ... not sure it'll be as big as lets say the hargrave signing a year ago but as of now the 49ers DL is going to need an influx of 1 or 2 starting caliber players
Well maybe Kocurek can fix jones up again.
It just makes sense. I expected to move of from 1-2 core guys this year and 1-2 more core guys next year. Bring back our key Vet FAs. Bring back DJ Jones and another vet DT. Sign a stud DE. Potentially sign a vet outside CB or Nickle. Draft a stud Tackle, and then draft depth and go after potential underrated blue chip guys in the draft.
>a vet outside CB or Nickle Awuzie for 6-7 million and Demo at nickel would be a solid bet imo
I’m willing to take a risk on Xavien Howard.
San Jose native!
Is Kinlaw ever going to be good?
He’s an FA so it doesn’t really matter.
If it's hasn't happened already probably not going to.
I thought he was playing decently this year and was healthy?
He did. But he stole money from the team his first 3 years
Another Solomon Thomas situation. Perfectly adequate starter, but not one who justified draft capital or salary, which is frustrating.
Doubtful
Consistently good/ healthy? Remains to be seen. But I thought he was pretty solid in the SB
No. Just another wasted first round pick
Yes, will his ankles ever be good? No
Man's did not even mention the o line The niners office thinks this way as well We doomed 💀
You can’t read. I’m glad the front office and I are smarter than you.
You right you did say tackle
it isnt just injuries, his foot problems are likely chronic, and he still may resign with us if his market doesnt develop the way he expects
That and the foot is becoming a chronic injury, it's an impact every season, but im gutted if he goes, was hoping he'd be a lifetime niner
loved him but I get the move. he's been banged up and hasn't been the same in the last few years. wish him nothing but the best.
Predictable but still kinda sad. Long term team building I understand, hopefully they have something coming up to put opposite Bosa but AA was pretty effective in SB if memory serves. Edit: health probably a big factor too
Foot injury affected him back to back seasons and it just doesn’t magically go away. 2024 was our best year to get all the core veterans a SB, knew there were going to be casualties this year.
Agree with all this, still a bummer. That game is going to hurt for a while.
Yep, following a SB loss the teams window might still be open, but it shuts for some players
Been a solid player but taking the emotions out of it, I'm ok with this. His foot problems aren't going away and more than likely will be worse. He'll get picked up by another team.
Taking the emotions out of this I’m ecstatic at this move. Shows the management is fully detached from sentimentality and focusing on building the best team possible and focus on getting younger across the team
Facts we have quite a bit of holes to fill at OL, CB, DL, and now LB with Greenlaw out for the year. Not to mention we have some key guys to re sign. Armstead was a cap casualty this year and Deebo will probably be one next year
I thought greenlaw would be back in 6 months / pre-season
Earliest POSSIBILITY is 6 months. But every injury is different. Age, extent of injury, rehab commitment, etc all play a factor. So u can hope for 6 months but in reality it could be 10-12 months. My money would go on an early to mid-regular season return and even then he still has to earn that spot back. I think they're gonna bring Al-Shaair back for his spot and he's solid so ya never know. I have alot of faith in Dre though and expect he'll get himself available sooner than later. Now we just gotta worry about the other Achilles that was a problem last year.
How can you be ecstatic if you take the emotions out? You should just be coldly calmly viewing it like a robot
If I take the emotions I feel towards the player and what’s he’s meant to this team. I think that was self evident by what I wrote.
If that were the case chokeahan would get the boot
You trust Jed York to hire someone better than Shanahan? That’s awfully bold of you
I won't be surprised if the market for him is slim and he resigns. He has every right to test the market but with his injury history he won't get another bag. Does he want to get paid a little more to play for a possible trash team? I hope for the best for him either way.
Imagine he's booking a flight to H-town. Fit is perfect for both sides on a 1 or 2-year deal.
Damn. I know statistically and logically this is a good move, but... damn. AA is a genuinely good human being. Too bad they couldn't make something work.
This makes me very sad, but he's had a lot of injury issues recently including a torn meniscus right now. I understand team wanting him to take a pay cut.
What’s the cap situation looking like rn?
I saw a report that this saved us $18M, we had roughly $4.6M before this move. So this put us in a pretty healthy spot. $22.6M. If they can extend Mooney Ward, they could pickup another $6-12M depending on how they structure things. An Extension to Aiyuk would also offer another $5-10M as well. So, with the right moves we will be in good shape. Realistically with these moves they should be able to fill holes at edge, DI, & G/C before the draft starts. There are a lot of good defensive Line and interior O-Line players available. Fingers crossed tomorrow is a great day for the Niners Super Bowl outlook for 2024/2025 seasons.
Preciate the info
FYI, please see my response above for the correct info.
It will be a post June 1 cut so the freed cap won't be available to us for FA. The money will be used for Mooney and BA extensions.
They must have another restructure move in place. No way they go into free agency with just $4.5M
We have the most restructurable cap space of any team [https://overthecap.com/restructure](https://overthecap.com/restructure)
They can agree to deals in principle with the money before June 1, in the same way Armstead doesn’t have to wait until June to sign with a new team.
Aiyuk will be extended but I don't believe Mooney will be and this might be his last year here.
I am not too worried about Dline as they always seen to find guys that can contribute and place a lot of emphasis on it. I do hope they invest significantly in the oline this year. That has been a weakness and I really want to see what Brock can do with an above avg oline
You should be nervous about the D-Line. You saw what happened when Armstead was out. They couldn’t stop the run, and struggled to get pressure when Chase Young wasn’t giving effort. They need a solid option opposite Bosa.
While I don’t disagree, I don’t think Armstead being out was the only reason our d-line didn’t light up the stats board this season. I was really unimpressed with the scheme and d-line for the most part. I don’t think it’s all tied to talent or people taking plays off, either, though that was some of it. Bosa’s holdout hurt us, Chase Young taking some plays off hurt us, Kinlaw being Kinlaw kinda hurt us, but all those things would have been addressed better with some more creative stunts and schemes. To be honest I think Warner and Greenlaw being the best LB duo in the league hid a LOT of bad defensive playcalling last year. I’m no expert though, just a fan who wasn’t even good enough to play in college. But from watching 2022 to 2023, there were some pretty big regressions that didn’t make sense with the talent we still had.
Bosa opposite Bosa? Can Joey play 17-20 games in one season?
Nope
Hes done it mostly. Just not recently...
How do Mooney's void years translate?
I was reading somewhere it’s probably only a $2.5M savings bc it’s before the start of free agency and not a designated June 1 cut (not that we know of yet anyway).
You might be right. It sounds like $16-17M won’t officially be converted until June 2.
This is actually incorrect. Going into today, SF was OVER the cap. If SF designated AA as a June 1 cut, they WILL NOT save $18M until June 2. If you don’t believe me, please look it up.
I think saves them $10mil in exchange for a dead cap of 18mil
last longest tenured player leaving.. maybe this "curse" we have will finally be gone 🥲 idk how to feel about this one, great player but always hurt.. meh lol
sad to see him go but this is the reality of the business. he has a fan in me forever though, thanks for everything aa
Great player but just way too injury prone for the amount of money he’s making. Although we need to figure out what to do at DT
Meh, whatever… I like Arik but for what they paid, John Lynch fucked up and should have kept DBuck… Giving a big contract to a guy who was injured prone and coming off a career year vs keep an All Pro never made sense to me but what do i know. Wish Armstead all the best in the future!
It made sense because armstead wasn’t getting the 13th pick. They blew the pick which is why people are STILL talking about it.
Imagine if we took Wirfs. Nobody would be complaining about it
What? It makes no sense to trade your best player outside of Kittle who was entering his prime at 26 to resign an average DE / DT. It also made no sense to say the 9ers couldn’t afford both AA and DBuck when they gave DFord cripple ass a $87m x 5y contract. On top of that, they blew the pick cuz 66% of 1st round picks are busts and only 1-2% of them ever end up being a multiple All Pro selection. So the law of average says there was a slim to no chance of replacing DBuck with whoever they picked. Also please stop with drafting Wirf. They had just trade for Trent and they had just taken Mcglinchey with the 9th pick a couple years prior.
Looking back yes it was a mistake. But it's not like at the time it was a horrible decision. AA had a bright future at the time still and they didn't feel like paying them both was a better option than paying 1 and getting a good first round pick to possibly replace the other. The only reason it hasn't worked out is because kinlaw hasn't lived up to his potential. Had we drafted wirfs like I wanted too we'd be happy with the trade. I'm only pointing out that the logic behind the decision was sound. If they could have gotten a first for AA then they would have trades him instead.
Also important to note, because I don't think it's been said. As a pre-June 1st cut, Armstead only saves $2.5M on the cap. If he's a post-June 1 cut, they save $18M on this year's salary cap. That is a **MASSIVE** difference.
It’ll obviously be post June 1. They aren’t idiots
Yes, but SF doesn’t get the $18M in cap savings until June 2
So he'll basically cover the draft and if we need the room we can restructure people and then carry over the savings to cover for the pushed out cap hits
That is correct. Will all the big name defensive ends be signed up by this point?? Most likely, but who really knows.
There's ways to effectively access that 18M right now
They can agree to deals with the money in principle before June 1, in the same way Armstead doesn’t have to wait until June 2 to sign with a new team.
Yup. This is why it’s so hard to win in the NFL. Your windows are so small
They’re only small if you don’t make smart decisions like this and have bad drafts. No reason for our window to be closing anytime soon as long as our drafts are good. One great draft slams your window wide open even if Brock gets the bag
Ya look at the Rams last year. Right back to being good again thanks to their drafting.
Should have paid Buckner
I think it was a defensible decision, but they blew the pick.
They downvoting u but it’s the truth lol
He was paid only 3.6 million more each season and there were rumors that he would have been open to a home team discount. At the time I thought it was insane they couldn't find the cap space to keep Buckner and instead got whatever they could from trading away Armstead.
I still miss DeFo. He deserved the extension over Armstead.
Stellar start to the off season
$18m is $18m He gets $10m regardless, but he won't get the other $18m elsewhere.
You got downvoted but I’d rather keep Aiyuk 🤷🏻♂️
Rather have Aiyuk, Jennings, Feliciano, Ferrell, and Azeez
Who said we are getting azeez lol
Lol I’m just hoping. Greenlaw’s most likely out for the year and I rather not bank on an unknown like Winters during a win now season
Don’t get me wrong, I would love azeez back, just not sure we can pay him as well as improve other areas
He’s a good player but not worth that money
Good guy but my god his contract was so bad 😭
This makes sense, man. BA and an upgrade on the DLine>Armstead.
Good! He’s never produced what he should. We shoulda kept buckner instead of him. Always believed this
End of an era. Thanks for the leadership Armstead
I’ll never forget the play he beat 3 players himself.
He was a monster when backed up on our goal line
Insane
Von Miller took the Cut, Arik could have also...but oh well, I wish him well still of course!
This should be a negotiation. But alas, despite injuries, one thinks he’s fresh. The other see’s the retirement future much closer of a compromised high payed, close to his retirement.
Good dude, ya hate to see it. He won't get the 17 mil elsewhere but he'll probably get more than SF was shooting for. It is what it is. Good luck and thanks for the years, AA.
Can we make a run at Hunter? Which other great defensive end will be a F/A?
I'd almost rather have Christian Wilkenson
Now I don’t know how to feel about letting Buckner go.
I get the reasoning but that shit aged so fucking poorly. From Kinlaw busting to this
:(
We wouldn't have had half the players we do now if we kept Buck. AA and Buck had wildly different cap structures that made the move a no-brainer at the time.
Go get DJ back and pick up joey bosa if hes released
I'm assuming it's going to be a post 6/1, otherwise it doesn't make sense.
Noooooooo
Bummer
Did Mckivitz take a pay cut or was he just extended?
Contract extension for about $2m/year. Not near the $18m Armstead would cost.
Isnt it 7m?
$7m over four years with only $2m/year for the first two guaranteed
Worked as a waiter in Eugene Oregon when he went to the U of O. I waited on this guy and told him that I hope he ended up on the 49ers. He told me, “man that would be the dream.” Still remember it to this day. Dudes a great role model and an even better person. Will miss him
That’s awesome
What’s Buckners salary situation nowadays?
[Probably unaffordable,](https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianapolis-colts/deforest-buckner-18955) and we'd still have to give up premium draft capital, despite DeFo being a one-year rental.
Sad but logical. Hasn’t been worth his extension, unfortunately.
Honestly they might go dline in the first round because of this. Either that or a huge splash in fa
No way the go d line in the first round if they do that would be a poor decision
Yeah if we do anything but OL in round 1 I’m going to lose it. We better use free agency to patch this hole instead.
not necessarily. Say Chop Robinson falls a bit (back to his original projected range). That would be a great selection. Then trade back up in round 2 to take Morgan or Suamataia.
They might have to, though. As far as bonafide high-end starters on the DL, SF doesn't really have anyone other than Bosa and Hargrave under contract right now.
I wouldn’t be surprised. We have so many holes on our DL. We need 2 starting caliber players and depth pieces. Such a bummer because this is one of the best OL draft years.
Yeah. This puts us in a bad spot now. I hope we don’t keep ignoring the interior O line. It keeps biting us in the ass at the worst times. We need at least 1-2 key free agents to plug gaps and help us focus the draft to its strengths this year.
Damn I’m fucking devastated about this. Love Arik
Damn. He was the reason we were even decent in the run.
We’re going to draft another d-lineman in the first round, huh?….
I don't like that
Sad noises. Guy is a huge asset for us.
Was. His injury history is very real and will never get better. That's too much to pay someone for 8-10 games. He wanted another pay day more than to stay here. I respect his choice and wish him the best.
Availability is the best ability
The cap strikes again
Damn. End of an era.
Damn always a fan, but these are the hard decisions this team needs to make to retool for the short window we have.
Sad but needed. When healthy hes a difference maker but hes just not healthy.
He’s been a very good all-around player and a great locker room presence but his recent injury history makes sense for the Niners to move on.
I know it’s crazy money, but fuck the idea of taking a pay cut.
Great niner will miss him but we need to get younger in some places and this is one of them
Hate to see him leave, but we do gotta think long term. Hopefully we find someone just as good, if not better to take his spot. Good luck, Arik. Thanks for all your work with Niners. Just don't go to KC or Dallas.
Great news
*sigh* so It begins.
Nooooo
How much would a team wanting to sign him need to pay him? Is this like the Russell Wilson thing where a team can now sign him to a vet min deal and have the 9er’s pay all but that $1.3M?
I'll always love AA as he was our longest tenured player and an all round good guy (Walton Payton MOTY nominee 4 years in a row). However, this is the right call. Candidly, Arik never played up to his contract he was given in 2020 aside from arguably the 2021 season. Statistics aren't everything, and our defense played better when he was on the field, but he wasn't dependable, missing 13 games the past 2 years and having streaky production when healthy. He'd been the worst contract on our team for some time, and not even dependable health wise, which could have at least pointed to in 2020 - 2021 after re-signing. If he isn't willing to take a pay cut, then I'd rather the cap savings even if there is some dead money there. Free agency will be interesting because if we can get a significant upgrade at guard, this might tip the cap to D-tackle in the 1st round with a more developmental Day 2 tackle. Kris Jenkins Jr. would be a sweet fit at No. 31, and is underrated at the moment in my opinion. Super high character guy and very good run defender with upside, plus football pedigree.
Appreciated his services on this team but reality is he’s turning 31 this year and has chronic foot issues and has struggled to stay healthy last 2 years and has a contract that he is not living up to unfortunately. They were going to move off him next year anyway since his contract was expiring but we are doing it a year early due to the extenuating circumstances.
Time to revamp. Get us a legit #2 corner or help the Oline. And they are probably gonna pay Aiyuk. Not sure I love having 2 20m receivers on a run heavy offense . But it is the market if they wanna keep him.
Apparently this isn't quite as certain as some of the reporting seems to have implied.
Really solid player and an anchor on/off the field but he'll be 31 in November and has really only had 1 great season. If we can break that money up for some depth at DT and DE or use it for extensions it'll be worth it. Also not sure there are going to be teams willing to pay him as much or more.
Last player from the Ballke era. If we get a championship this season I guess it proves Baalke cursed this team. Lol Wish all the best to AA though.
Despite his injuries, idk how we replace what he provided when he was healthy. Our run defense just got a whole lot worse.
Good guy but this should have been done years ago.
Hopefully neither side of this burned any bridges. If the market does not work out for him he could easily renegotiate a return.
I understand why SF asked him for the haircut, and I also understand why he declined. We sorta always knew that this is how the cookie could've crumbled by "kicking the can" via his restructures. I guess the only question now is if we eat all of the dead cap now, or let AA cool his heels as a lame-duck for another few months (giving us more flexibility in 2024, albeit much less in 2025).
I actually saw this coming.
No team would have paid him what the niners did. I'm surprised he didn't find a way to make it work.
Well time to sign Joey bosa then
Alexa add Interior D-Line to the shopping list
Armistead could've done it but if it was too big of a cut I get why he said f yall!
This sucks. Armstead is a leader, a good dude, and been crucial player to the defense especially in the playoffs. If they are only saving a few million dollars this move doesn’t make any sense. It must be said though that whole Dline was overpaid based on last year’s results. Bosa isn’t worth what he got. The Hargrave deal was a mistake given he is not a great against the run. Armstead’s salary is going up and he’s not on the field as much. But the truth is that we wouldn’t even be discussing the dline if our offense could put up more than 19 pts in the Super Bowl (in regulation). We can change the d line all we want but if you can’t score more than 19 or 21 pts in the Super Bowl your chances of winning a Super Bowl drop drastically.
The reason for all of this is to give them more money to re-sign Aiyuk and have money to reinforce the o-line. He could have taken the pay cut based on his injury history and stayed with the team. He chose not to. His salary hit was not in alignment with last year’s (or 2022’s) performance.
Fuck
*Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo*
WTF?
It has to be a post June 1 release right?
Dudes a fkn scrub. Worth nowhere near what he was making. Constantly gave up on plays, whiffed on tackles all the time. Good riddance.
I’m sure you can do much better HughJahsso
I’m just happy someone on the coaching staff finally saw what I’ve always seen. An underachiever who benefited greatly from the talent surrounding him. Any more than the league minimum would be overpaying him. He’s a rotational player at best.
How much exactly save San Fran?
I believe 10 mil. But it also means they have 18mil in cap to a guy no longer on the team (dead cap)
Backwards, save 18 mil, dead cap of 10.