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NFL free agency 2020: Best defensive linemen available

By William Schneiderhan

KANSAS CITY, MO - JANUARY 19: Chris Jones #95 of the Kansas City Chiefs gestures after making a second quarter tackle in the AFC Championship game against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - JANUARY 19: Chris Jones #95 of the Kansas City Chiefs gestures after making a second quarter tackle in the AFC Championship game against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 24: Arik Armstead #91 and Nick Bosa #97 of the San Francisco 49ers pressures Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers during the game at Levi’s Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Packers 37-8. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 24: Arik Armstead #91 and Nick Bosa #97 of the San Francisco 49ers pressures Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers during the game at Levi’s Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Packers 37-8. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

3. Arik Armstead

The San Francisco 49ers defense got after it in 2019. On their way to a 13-3 regular season record and a Super Bowl appearance, the team had a top-10 defense. This unit came away with 48 sacks, which was also top-10.

You would expect that to be the case when you’ve bled so many first-round picks into the defensive line, right? Nick Bosa was a rookie star, DeForest Buckner was good, and Arik Armstead led the team with 10 sacks.

Bosa and Buckner will be staying put this offseason, while Armstead plays the free-agent field to potentially find a new home for 2020.

Armstead was drafted with the 17th-overall pick in 2015. It would have been more than fair to say he was somewhat of a flop at that spot in the draft after his first three seasons in the NFL.

The 26-year-old’s fourth season was in 2018. He finally played a full season, but he still left a lot to be desired. 2019 was a different story.

Simply put, Armstead dominated for the 49ers. He was dynamic and he proved to be an absolute handful for opposing offensive linemen. He set career-highs in sacks (10), tackles for loss (11), quarterback hits (18), quarterback hurries (17) and total pressures (35).

Those numbers translate to this: Armstead is going to get paid. He picked a fantastic time to have a career season, as he did so in his final year of his current contract.

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