It appears Arik Armstead’s run with the 49ers is over after eight seasons. Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report on Sunday reported Armstead will be released by San Francisco. The report indicates Armstead decided to become a free agent, which indicates there was some sort of ultimatum from the club, although there’s no additional information about the details behind his pending release.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported the 49ers asked Armstead to take a pay cut, and instead he elected for free agency.
The move comes as part of a salary cap crunch the 49ers are facing. It’s also unclear whether he’ll be designated a post-June 1 release. If he’s let go before June 1 the 49ers would carry a $25,860,824 dead cap hit while saving just $2,492,412 against the cap.
A post-June 1 release saves them $18,039,412 against the cap while incurring a $10,313,824 dead cap hit per Over the Cap.
Armstead was the No. 17 pick in the 2015 draft. In eight years with the 49ers he played in 116 games with 97 starts. He had 33.5 regular season sacks, including a career-high 10.0 in 2019 when he led the team in that category. He also tallied 8.0 sacks in 12 career postseason games.
With depth already a problem on the interior of the defensive line the 49ers have to put replacing him at or near the top of their offseason to-do list.
