The San Francisco 49ers released Arik Armstead earlier this month after the two sides were unable to agree to a revised contract, which the veteran defensive end recently suggested showed that the team didn’t value him.
“They extended an offer to me of $6 million for a one-year deal with incentives to go up to like eight,” Armstead said. “When they sent that over, I did feel extremely disrespected. … That level of compensation is nowhere near the type of player that I am — not even just the type of player that I am, [but] what I’ve committed to the game, what I’ve committed to my team [and] 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 and a person.”
Armstead, who ended up signing a three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars after his release, also said that he knows “for a fact” that he puts “a lot more into football than [the] majority of” other players.
“I put a lot into what I do,” he said. “I’m not just a guy who goes to practice, goes home and just does all the bare minimum team stuff just to get by. I’m a guy who watches the most film, invests the most time in my body, preparation, working on my game, working on my craft. I have a real passion for this and a true love for this.”
The 30-year-old totaled five sacks and 27 combined tackles in the 2023 regular season. He also registered one sack and six combined tackles in San Francisco’s grueling overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
Armstead’s best season for the 49ers came in 2019, when he logged 10 sacks, 54 combined tackles and two forced fumbles. San Francisco selected Armstead with the No. 17 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Oregon.
Armstead joins a Jaguars team that lost five of their last six games this past season en route to missing the playoffs after reaching the AFC divisional round in 2022. Defensively, Jacksonville surrendered 239.8 passing yards (26th in the NFL), 103.1 rushing yards (ninth), 342.8 total yards (22nd) and 21.8 points (17th) per game in 2023.
Armstead is now part of a lively Jacksonville pass-rushing attack, which includes two-time Pro Bowler Josh Allen and Travon Walker, who combined for 27.5 sacks last season.
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San Francisco 49ers
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