Dee Ford had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this offseason

Dee Ford reportedly underwent arthroscopic knee surgery this offseason for the Niners.

Former Kansas City Chiefs pass rusher Dee Ford underwent arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this offseason. Fortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, Ford says he’s feeling “confident” after an “extensive clean up” on his knee by Dr. James Andrews.

The Niners are now experiencing the carousel with which Chiefs fans and staff are all-too-familiar. Ford is an undeniable talent with an initial burst that most NFL pass rushers would love to have. Given further experience, Ford showed impressive growth as a player and his efforts to learn and grow are easy to see as he became a very valuable defender, when healthy, in K.C.

Therein lies the rub, however. Ford was hardly ever healthy for any length of time in his tenure with the Chiefs which stunted his development and kept the Chiefs from being able to feel completely comfortable at the position. Thus when Ford had finished up his rookie contract and was capable of making serious money on the open market, general manager Brett Veach decided to trade him away to the Niners instead of ride the carousel any longer.

For San Francisco, Ford played in only 22 percent of the Niners defensive snaps in 2019. In his six year career, Ford has only played at 50 percent or more of a team’s snaps in two seasons: 2016 and his contract year in 2018.

Last year, Ford said he was dealing with tendinitis all season and hamstring issues also came into play as the season wore on.

"“I think the biggest hurdle to get over in the league is health,” Ford said. “We were spot on with the injury as far as diagnosing it in training camp. I had a severe case of tendinitis. Although it’s not an ACL tear, with my position, that’s a blown tire.”"

The return for the Chiefs in the trade was a second round pick that turned into linebacker Willie Gay Jr.  so it will be interesting to see how the swap of defenders turns out for the long-term for the Chiefs. Given the ongoing worries about Ford’s ability to stay on the field, we’re likely safe to assume that Veach is glad to be off of that ride. As talented as Ford is when healthy, the question marks are too great for the pay he demands.