Is It Right That Arik Armstead Was Released?
The 49ers are counting on Armstead to keep missing time, and they won’t be sorry they let him go if he does. However, the 49ers would have wasted their release of him if he remains healthy in 2024.
The 49ers’ initial plan for this summer was to persuade Arik Armstead to accept a pay reduction, but that didn’t go as planned because he refused.
The 49ers’ backup plan for this offseason was to cut Armstead and replace him with what little salary space remained. Initially, they inked Jordan Elliott, a defensive lineman free agency that the Browns had no use for, to a $5 million, one-year contract. The 49ers then acquired defensive tackle Maliek Collins—a player Houston no longer desired—by trading a seventh-round pick to the Texans.
Hence, the 49ers benched Armstead in favor of a platoon of specialists, with Collins serving as the pass rusher and Elliott as the run defender. The 49ers appear to have lost this deal on paper since Armstead, who is still far more valuable on the free market than Elliott and Collins combined, just inked a three-year, $51 million contract with the Jaguars. Which is amazing given that Armstead is less robust and far older than those two.
The 49ers are counting on Armstead to keep missing time, and they won’t be sorry they let him go if he does. However, the 49ers would have wasted their release of him if he remains healthy in 2024.
Though they didn’t strengthen their defense, I can see why the 49ers wanted to let go of Armstead and replace him with more reliable players. Instead of using a few seasoned benchwarmers, they ought to have used their first-round choice to replace Armstead.
The 49ers defense tackle situation appears to have gotten worse.