49ers trade a 7th round pick for Texans DT Maliek Collins

All but closing the door on Arik Armstead’s tenure with the 49ers

Kyle Shanahan and DeMeco Ryans are still doing business together. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the San Francisco 49ers are acquiring Houston Texans defensive tackle Maliek Collins. Schefter reported that the Niners are giving up a 7th-round pick for Collins.

Collins is coming off an excellent season where he produced more than any available free agent. He had 12 tackles for loss, 43 pressures, and five tackles.

Collins is also available, as he’s only missed four games during the past three seasons. He’ll turn 29 in April and is coming off his best season statistically. At 6’2, 308 pounds, Collins is known as being more of a pass rusher than a run stopper, so he’s a perfect complement to the defensive tackle the Niners signed on Tuesday, former Cleveland Brown Jordan Elliott.

Collins played starter-level snaps with Houston last year. He had 11 games where he played at least 40 snaps. But starting with Elliott may make more sense since Collins and Hargrave are closer to 300 than 320 pounds.

This move all but closes the door on an Arik Armstead return.

Collins has two seasons left on his contract. His cap number was $13.4 million prior to the trade for 2024, but it’s unclear how much the Texans agreed to pay of that, or the 49ers were willing to take on.