Dontari Poe among free agent DL who could help the Chiefs

Arik Armstead – Most Expensive

It’s hard to say for sure what the San Francisco 49ers will do with Arik Armstead. Like the Kansas City Chiefs, being a true Super Bowl contender often means you are at or near the salary cap for a given season. Over the Cap projects the 49ers, as they currently stand, to have a shade over $13 million in cap space headed into 2020 Free Agency. That’s likely not enough to retain all of the players they need to repeat as NFC Champions.

Arik Armstead would likely play a very similar role to that of Chris Jones, if the Kansas City Chiefs were to trade one-for-one. The fifth-year defensive lineman is extremely versatile with the ability to line up on the inside and plug gaps and line up on the outside with speed to beat offensive tackles. His overall sat line for 2019 was an impressive 54 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 18 quarterback hits, and 10 sacks.

Herein lies the challenge for the Kansas City Chiefs to bring in a player like Armstead: he will undoubtedly be at or near the compensation required to retain Chris Jones. Spotrac doesn’t have an updated market value, but given his production on a Super Bowl caliber team and his physical prowess, it’s likely he’ll have his pick of the litter when it comes to teams in free agency.

I think trading Chris Jones, even for a decent pick, and signing Arik Armstead in free agency would leave most fans at a loss. The only way a deal like this happens is if Chris Jones and the Chiefs front office simply can’t reach a deal, and the team is forced into a trade. If that’s the case, and the team is still willing to spend on defensive lineman, Arik Armstead could be a prime candidate for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.