49ers are Releasing Pass Rusher Dee Ford
In this story:
It is officially official.
Dee Ford is no longer a part of the 49ers. The release saves the 49ers a little over $1 million in salary cap space. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, who have been direct about the tenure of Ford with the 49ers coming to a close. Lynch even dropped a hint Tuesday at his press conference that a transaction would occur soon. One day later, Ford is out and will never put on the 49ers' uniform again.
The 49ers originally acquired Ford in a trade with the Chiefs back in 2019 on Mar. 13. Over the past three seasons, Ford appeared in 18 games (two starts) and registered 22 tackles, 9.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one pass defensed. He also saw action in three postseason contests and added four tackles and 1.0 sack. Considering the 49ers shelled out about $42 million the past three seasons for Ford, he was a whiff.
In fact, the trade for Ford was a whiff for the 49ers.
Following 2019, everything looked great for them. He was able to be a fantastic duo with Nick Bosa and part of a monstrous defensive line that was by far the best defense overall en route to a Super Bowl appearance. The trade looked like a major building block for the future. Unfortunately, Ford could never shake how injury prone he was. Seven appearances is all he has managed after that 2019 season.
It makes sense why the 49ers are just done with him. They have been very patient with him and have given him all their support. But the 49ers have finally realized the last two seasons that they cannot keep investing in impact players who are constantly injured. That is just bad business. You look at their roster now and can see they don't really have many of these players as opposed to 2019 and 2021.
2019 was a great year for Ford since he was a major piece in the Niners' defensive dominance. They swung for the fences in trading for him, which is respectable as they needed pass rush help. But the deal they gave him was a putrid and massive whiff given injuries always were his red flag. With Ford, it'll always be "what could've been" if he ever found luck with sustaining health.
Now, the 49ers look to Drake Jackson to fill the role of Ford.
