Releasing Arik Armstead was the right move for the 49ers, but now they have to replace him, and doing so won't be easy.
Armstead is too old, too injury prone and too expensive for the 49ers to justify keeping him -- they really had no choice but to ask him to take a pay cut. And he had every right to decline the pay cut and look to find a better offer elsewhere. And if he can't find a better offer, he always can re-sign with the 49ers.
But let's assume Armstead moves on and signs with another team. In that case, the 49ers would lose their best defensive tackle and one of their best run defenders. Sure, Armstead is declining and missing more and more games, but when he's on the field, the 49ers run defense is outstanding, and when he's out, their run defense isn't good. So he's important.
Plus, he was a key piece of the 49ers' third-down packages, which means he's more than a run defender. He's a three-down impact player, even though he never has gone to a Pro Bowl.
Which means the 49ers will have to acquire a premium talent to replace him. And they don't have the salary cap space to sign a premium defensive tackle, otherwise they would have signed Christian Wilkins.
So expect the 49ers to draft a defensive tackle in Round 1 this year. I'm guessing they wanted to draft an offensive tackle until Armstead refused to take a pay cut. Now they have no choice but to replace him with their first-round pick this year.
The last two defensive tackles the 49ers have drafted in Round 1 were Solomon Thomas and Javon Kinlaw. Hopefully for the 49ers, they do better this year.
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