49ers acquire OLB Dee Ford

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/1105630921389162497[/tweet]

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/3/1 ... both-teams

"Essentially agreed to by both teams."

Excellent if it goes through. He led the NFL in pass rush rating per Pro Football Focus.

Jville":r1hm149z said:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/1105630921389162497[/tweet]

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I like it

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1105640204495400960[/tweet]

Looking like they'll probably pair Bosa on one side, Ford on the other and have DeForest Buckner and Solomon Thomas rushing inside.

Then you have speedy LBs Kwon Alexander and Fred Warner Behind them.

Should be interesting at least.

They need a WR tho and I'll bet that's what pick #36 is targeting. I like AJ Brown.

The 49ers love signing people who ruined their teams chances in the play offs or superbowl.

This is always what I'll think of first with Dee Ford:

[youtube]AqFaLhh2Wlo[/youtube]

And he signs for less than 18 million. So that is good news for the Seahawks.

So it was another Paraag special on this one.

The "five year/90 million dollar deal" is basically a 1 year deal with 20 million guaranteed in that first year, and then four years of cheaper team options that only have guarantees for injury.

Year 1: 20 million fully guaranteed
Year 2: 14.5 million (only guarantees are for injury)
Year 3: 16 million (only guarantees are for injury)
Year 4: 17 million (only guarantees are for injury)
Year 5: 17 million (only guarantees are for injury)

This is basically the exact same contract structure as Jimmy G. got. The first year pays out the highest (he was the highest paid QB in the NFL last year -- this year he's down to the 20th highest paid QB) and also packs in all the guaranteed money in the first year (Jimmy still has another 7.5 guaranteed this year, but for the next and last three years of the deal there's no guaranteed money).

I'm still DEEPLY suspicious of this FO's ability to evaluate and value talent (particularly the latter, the former is too random to give anyone too much blame or credit), but what's saving the 9ers rear is that Paraag is the adult in the room.

The thing he gets that too many people don't get, I think, is that this isn't just about trying to maximize the instances of being right, it's equally (and likely more) about minimizing the bleeding when you're wrong.

I wouldn't be worried about the money - for him or Alexander.

Niners have the cap space and like all teams, have to spend it on something.

With Ford the question will be, is he really the 2018 version of himself? He was basically a first round bust before that, at least according to Chiefs fans. And last year he played on the most explosive offense in the NFL - which means lots of opportunities, which is going to energize any pass rusher.

Great move for the Niners though, and they'll have their pick of any pass rusher in the draft. That defense should be better - although I'm not sure about the secondary. If they can stay relatively healthy, I definitely see them competing for a playoff spot.

Ramfan128":3spwxzzb said:

I wouldn't be worried about the money - for him or Alexander.

Niners have the cap space and like all teams, have to spend it on something.

With Ford the question will be, is he really the 2018 version of himself? He was basically a first round bust before that, at least according to Chiefs fans. And last year he played on the most explosive offense in the NFL - which means lots of opportunities, which is going to energize any pass rusher.

Great move for the Niners though, and they'll have their pick of any pass rusher in the draft. That defense should be better - although I'm not sure about the secondary. If they can stay relatively healthy, I definitely see them competing for a playoff spot.

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Last year was the second double digit sack season he had (10 in 14 starts in 2016). Then in 2017 he was out with injuries most of the year.

Ramfan128":fr1cn38o said:

Great move for the Niners though, and they'll have their pick of any pass rusher in the draft. That defense should be better - although I'm not sure about the secondary.

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Yeah, the secondary is the big issue.

Let's PRETEND that Ford can replicate his production from last year and get 13 sacks again.

Then let's PRETEND that the rookie Edge they take at #2 is as advertised and can get 10 sacks.

Then let's PRETEND that Buckner levels up again and can go from 12 to 15 sacks.

If ALL OF THOSE things happen, the 9ers this year have the Chiefs pass rush from last year (those were the sack totals for Ford, Houston, and Jones last year), and the Chiefs pass defense from last year really wasn't very good at all.

I love the Verrett signing, but it's a total flyer that likely won't lead to anything.

Everyone talks about how pass rush is the most important part of a defense, but that's not really true anymore.

It used to be that if you had pass rush they could get to the QB before routes developed and eliminate the play. But with the arrival of college passing concepts everyone runs quick game now, and the relationship has flipped: you need really talented people in the secondary for even really good pass rushers to have time to get to the QB at all.

This is good for football overall (defense is much more of a team sport than it has probably ever been before), but good pass rush == good pass defense doesn't really apply nearly as much as even it did five years ago.

Shannahan has shown a knack for producing offensively with lesser talent, so if Jimmy and the RBs/WRs stay healthy, they should be fine on offense. Whole draft should go toward the defensive side of the ball IMO.