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The San Francisco 49ers released veteran defensive lineman Arik Armstead this offseason after the pair were unable to agree on a restructured contract, and he went on to sign a three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But Armstead said Thursday during his Third and Long podcast (15-minute mark) that the Niners only offered him a one-year, $6 million deal—with incentives up to about $8 million—as part of the proposed restructuring, a figure that he said made him feel “extremely disrespected.”
“I don’t feel that level of compensation is [anywhere] near the type of player I am,” he added. “Not even just the type of player I am, but what I’ve committed to the game, what I’ve committed to my team, what I’ve committed to the organization and my community. I didn’t feel like it was representative of who I am as a player or a person.”
Part of the calculus for the Niners was that Armstead missed 13 games over the past two seasons, making it hard to justify his $18 million cap hit for the 2024 campaign.
“At his number, we had to adjust it,” general manager John Lynch told reporters earlier this week. “Arik bet on himself. And I think he made a good call because his market was there.”
The Niners pivoted to a trade with the Houston Texans for defensive tackle Maliek Collins, who had a much more palatable $8.4 million cap hit. The 28-year-old only missed three games in the past two seasons and registered 8.5 sacks in that time, compared to Armstead’s five. He’s also two years younger.
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