The San Francisco 49ers had a substantial amount of salary cap space open up on June 1, as the amount of space they had available went from $8.24 million to an estimated $25.25 million, according to 49ers Webzone, and it was due to Arik Armstead being designated as a post June 1 cut.
The 49ers officially announced Arik Armstead’s release on March 13. For 2024, he counts for $10.3 million in dead money on the 2024 salary cap, and about $15.5 million in dead money in 2025. Overall, the 49ers got salary cap flexibility out of the maneuver, despite the dead money being on the books for the next two years. The post June 1 designation gives the 49ers the immediate salary cap space that they just got on Saturday.
After being released due to not being able to agree to a restructured deal with the 49ers, Arik Armstead signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For the 49ers, it will be interesting to see if this new cap space will give them the flexibility to keep players like Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and eventually extend quarterback Brock Purdy. There were rumors regarding both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel potentially getting traded around the time of the 2024 NFL Draft. A trade did not materialize for either of the two star receivers, and it seems like both will at least be on the roster for the 2024 season to try to get over the hump and win the Super Bowl.
49ers’ release of Arik Armstead was emotionally tough for both sides
Although the 49ers deemed it necessary to release Armstead, he had some good seasons with the team, and it was tough from both perspectives to part ways. Armstead spoke on the negotiations for a potential restructured deal at the time, and said he felt disrespected.
“And so they extended an offer to me of $6 million for a one-year deal with incentives to go up to, like, eight,” Armstead said, according to Yardbarker. “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. 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. … So I didn’t feel like that offer was anywhere near the level of compensation for a player like me. And so, in that moment, it was definitely tough. I had to make some decisions.”
Head coach Kyle Shanahan echoed the sentiment that it was a tough decision, given what Armstead meant for the team in his years there.
“It was real tough,” Kyle Shanahan said, according to Yardbarker. “I mean, we’ve been with Arik since we’ve been here, and I know he was here a couple of years before us, so it wasn’t something we really wanted to happen. It’s one of the tough things when trying to keep a team together, and just where it goes with the salary cap and stuff.”
Armstead was not the main pass rusher like Nick Bosa is for the 49ers, but he was part of one of the deepest defensive lines and pass rushes in the NFL. The 49ers will have to fill that void this year.
