Golden Nuggets: Salute to Arik Armstead

Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Friday, March 15th, 2024

49ers’ aggressive offseason rearms a defense that needed a shakeup (paywall)

“Sure, they might have won it all last month had a few things gone their way. Yet it’s also true that they could have endured an embarrassing divisional-round faceplant that spoke to some glaring weaknesses.

Deep inside, Shanahan knows that the unsatisfying outcome was on him. He hired Wilks, and it didn’t work out; in the end, his guys weren’t good enough.

That the head coach is willing to take a long, hard look at the roster — and in the mirror — is a very positive sign for the 49ers.”

49ers’ five remaining roster needs after first wave of free agency

“General manager John Lynch recently expressed his desire to re-sign Feliciano. So that clearly is an option.

Regardless, adding an immediate starter at right guard is a possibility when the 49ers go on the clock with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 49ers could even trade up to make sure they get their guy.”

The 49ers’ big defensive line reboot: What they have and what might be next (paywall)

“ESPN credits a defender with a “win” in run-stop win rate when he’s either disrupted the blocker or the runner or recorded a tackle within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage. Elliott accomplished at least one of the above on 40 percent of his run-blocking snaps last season, the sixth-highest mark among NFL defensive tackles.”

After declining pay cut from 49ers, Arik Armstead gets paid by Jaguars (paywall)

“Armstead, 30, reportedly signed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Jaguars, whose general manager, Trent Baalke, selected him in the first round of his penultimate draft with the 49ers in 2015. Armstead landed in Jacksonville, Fla., after he recently declined the 49ers’ request to significantly reduce his $17.4 million base salary and was subsequently released.

Armstead likely didn’t accept the pay cut because he had a sense of his potential worth on the free-agent market. And despite coming off two injury plagued seasons that caused him to miss 13 games and recently undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, Armstead also had interest from the Texans, Bengals, Bills, Lions and Titans before landing with the Jaguars.”