Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead has a bone to pick with his former club. After spending nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Armstead was offended by the team's request for him to take a pay cut.
The nine-year veteran publicly called the team out on his “Third and Long” podcast for the one-year offer on Wednesday. The 30-year-old felt “extremely disrespected,” as the 49ers had previously expressed their desire to keep him in San Francisco long-term. After signing his new three-year, $51 million deal with the Jaguars, it appears that he may have a point.
Why did the 49ers offer Arik Armstead such a cheap deal?
Coming off a season where he recorded five sacks and 27 tackles, Armstead is still a key contributor. The California native also registered a sack and six tackles in the Super Bowl LVIII while playing through a torn meniscus in his knee. After laying his body on the line to help his longtime team, one can understand why he'd be upset at its cheap offer.
“they extended an offer to me of $6 million for a one-year deal with incentives to go up to, like, eight. And when they sent that over, I did feel extremely disrespected. I don't feel that level of compensation is nowhere near the type of player that I am,” Armstead said. “And not even just the type of player that I am, what I have committed to the game, what I've committed to my team, what I've committed to the organization in my community.”
The 49ers are known for being one of the most shrewd organizations in football. At first glance, it seems strange that they'd offer one of their most reliable defensive lineman a deal so far below his value.
However, San Francisco did have legitimate reasons. The team was mainly concerned about the salary cap, as well as Armstead's durability. The Oregon alum missed 13 games over the last two years. General manager John Lynch was understanding that both sides couldn't come to an agreement, via Grant Cohn of All49ers.
“Some realities come to bear that you can't keep everybody, and so you have to make some tough judgments,” Lynch said. “And we worked with Arik, and really appreciative of he and his family and representative of trying to work something out with a restructured contract. [We] took a couple different whacks at different ideas,” said 49ers' general manager John Lynch.
With the 49ers' loaded roster, they were always going to have to let someone go. They're already paying star edge rusher Nick Bosa a hefty deal. On top of that, they have to save money to eventually extend Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk.
“So I didn't feel like that offer was anywhere near the level of compensation for a player like me,” Armstead continued. “And so, in that moment, it was definitely tough. I had to make some decisions,”
Sometimes, the business of the NFL can be difficult for both the players and executives to navigate. While Armstead is correct about being worth much more than he was offered, the 49ers had to prioritize their core stars. The 2015 first-round pick is a fine player, but is not quite on that star level. Regardless, he'll have a good chance to stand out and continue proving himself as a member of the Jaguars, who don't have quite as stacked of a roster.
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