San Francisco 49ers re-sign Arik Armstead: Grade, reaction and more
By John Buhler
Instead of being franchise tagged like many thought he would be, Arik Armstead will be back with the San Francisco 49ers on a new five-year deal.
With so many players getting hit with the franchise tag on Monday before the deadline, the San Francisco 49ers were able to avoid this by issuing a long-term deal for their defensive end Arik Armstead. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, it will be a five-year deal worth $85 million.
Armstead was a former first-round pick of the 49ers back in 2015 out of the University of Oregon. While he didn’t have a ton of production during his first four years in the league, keep in mind how chaotic the coaching situation was before Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch arrived in 2017. By playing under the same regime, Armstead achieved his first 10-sack season last year.
It was critical for the 49ers to bring back Armstead. If it was on the franchise tag, it would have been slightly more than the $17 million average he’ll make on this reported deal. Since Armstead re-upped with the 49ers, this deal is official and we will not have to wait until the start of the new league year on Wednesday for it to be finalized.
Here are the contract details, national reaction and grade on Armstead’s new deal with the 49ers.
Contract Details
It is a five-year deal worth $85 million, which will have Armstead on the 49ers roster through the 2024 NFL season. He will not be hitting unrestricted free agency until his age-31 season after potentially 10 years of services to the San Francisco professional football team. San Francisco was able to lock down Armstead’s theoretical prime at $17 million for the next five years.
National Reaction
The #49ers are giving star DL Arik Armstead a 5-year deal, sources say, avoiding the franchise tag and locking him up long-term. He gets up to $85M on his new deal.💰💰💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2020
Hearing the deal between the #49ers and Arik Armstead is for 5 years and averages around $17M a year. Which makes sense since the franchise number for his position, DE, is $17.8M.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 16, 2020
Richard Sherman is streaming Call of Duty and commented on Arik Armstead's new deal:
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 16, 2020
"I'm very excited about. Happy he's staying with the #49ers. Bang bang Niner gang. What up Niner gang 2020." pic.twitter.com/LQSWQeuEqt
NFL News: #GoNiners did not slap non-exclusive franchise tag but instead banking on five years of consistency, award DE Arik Armstead with five-year contract worth up to $85 million (h/t @RapSheet). https://t.co/8KgzeXIfXU
— Ryan Sakamoto (@BEASTwriter) March 16, 2020
If Arik Armstead gets $85 million from the 49ers for being Robin to Nick Bosa's Batman, what is Bud Dupree worth? Probably wants a $90-$100 million on long-term deal.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) March 16, 2020
This deal is received positive reviews nationally. The media has applauded San Francisco’s ability to avoid the franchise tag with a valued player. They were able to get under the reported franchise tag amount by almost $1 million. San Francisco gave Armstead what he wanted by giving him long-term stability to stay with a franchise that is coming off a Super Bowl appearance.
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The only downside to this move is 10 of Armstead’s 19 career sacks came in 2019. He benefited tremendously playing opposite of rookie pass-rushing sensation Nick Bosa. If Armstead gets $17 million annually after five years of services, we can’t even begin to imagine what a player of Bosa’s caliber would net when he hits unrestricted free agency in four years. Armstead just got paid.