49ers Bring Back Armstead, Deal Buckner

Amid the craziness that is the Coronavirus pandemic that has taken the globe by storm and halted the sports world as we know in its tracks, Monday served as the first busy day of the NFL's 2020-21 calendar year. Just 24 hours after players and league owners came to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement that will improve the number of playoff teams from 12 to 14, as well as ensure 10 more years of labor peace (at least for now) among many other things, the free-agent frenzy and a number of blockbuster trades, allowed for us to take a quick breather from the more serious matters at hand. With the NCAA's March Madness officially cancelled, both the NBA and NHL seasons in a standstill and Major League Baseball not expected to begin their season until at least mid-May, it was the NFL that once again reigned supreme in a nation that absolutely loves its football and is currently starving for any sort of sports entertainment.

Just two days before the official start of NFL free agency, things began to take shape when a pair of major moves were made out west as one of the league's toughest divisions in the NFC West appears to have gotten even tougher. Following the groundbreaking news of the Houston Texans sending superstar receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals to catch balls from last year's No. 1 overall pick and Offensive Rookie of the Year -- Kyler Murray, the archrival 49ers made a splash of their own in hopes of maintaining a stranglehold on the division for years to come. With a number of play-makers on San Francisco's star-studded defensive-line, the reigning NFC Champion 49ers were forced to pick and choose between a pair of good friends and former college teammates dating back to their days at the University of Oregon. After selecting Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner in consecutive drafts with their first round picks in 2015 and 2016 respectively, the 49ers made the two former Oregon Ducks teammates once again, helping them assemble the most devastating defensive front in all of football last season which led the way to the team making a Super Bowl appearance under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. But like all good things that must come to an end, the team would not be able to afford paying everyone after shelling out over $87 Million last offseason to defensive-end Dee Ford and drafting rookie sensation Nick Bosa who took home the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award after being selected with the No. 2 overall pick.

With Armstead becoming a free-agent and Buckner entering the final year of his contract this coming season, 49ers brass would be forced to choose from one or the other. Not only would GM John Lynch and company go with the much cheaper option in Armstead, but they also went with the option that made the most sense long-term. With Buckner being the odd man out, San Francisco sent their former No. 7 overall pick and arguably the centerpiece to their defense to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the No. 13 pick in next month's draft. In need of a defensive lineman to compliment their superstar linebacker in Darius Leonard, Indy quickly made Buckner the second-highest paid defensive player in the league by inking him to a multi-year deal that will pay him $21 Million per, trailing only L.A.'s Aaron Donald in annual salary. In his four seasons in the league with the 49ers, Buckner tallied 28.5 sacks while earning Pro Bowl honors in 2018. While Buckner is clearly the more superior pass rusher here and has the more impressive track record, his asking price was going to be too expensive for the Niners' taste and therefore it made all the sense in the world to deal him now and at least get something in return, opposed to letting him walk after next season. Not to mention how needy the 49ers are for draft capital as they did not receive any compensatory draft picks this year and are without a single pick in rounds 2 thru 4 which have proven to be the rounds Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan have built this team on in their 3+ seasons at the helm.

Having mainly underwhelmed in his previous four seasons with the team, Armstead had a career year in 2019-20 and benefited from having the perfect cast around him which allowed him to propel on the field and helped him accomplish a career-high 10 sacks on the year. Thriving in what was a memorable season for San Francisco's defense, Armstead just got a lot richer as the team signed him to a new five-year, $85 Million dollar deal with $48.5 Million in guarantees. Whether or not the 49ers intend to use one of their now two first round picks at No. 13 and 31 to find Buckner's replacement is anyone's guess at this point, as D.J. Jones who impressed last season before being bit by the injury bug, is also a viable option. Then again Lynch could always revert to using one of the picks as trade bait to land even more picks like he's done so often in his brief but impressive career as a general manager. By jettisoning Buckner's contract from their payroll, the team was able to clear up the salary flexibility to make moves such as re-signing free-safety Jimmie Ward to a 3-year deal worth $28.5 Million. The move to bring back the often injury-prone Ward who the 49ers made their 30th pick in the 2014 Draft, enjoyed his best and most healthy season in 2019 and was San Francisco's second top priority among their own free-agents, behind only Armstead, which now guarantees the return of 10 of 11 defensive starters from last year.

With more deals expected to come, other key free-agents on the Niners include: WR Kendrick Bourne, RB Matt Breida and WR Emmanuel Sanders.


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