San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch told local reporters on Monday that he doesn’t anticipate Dee Ford to be with the team much longer.
The Niners acquired the defensive end for a second round pick in 2019 and gave him a five-year, $85 million contract extension that hasn’t paid off. Ford has played 18 regular season games in three seasons with the 49ers. He recorded 9.5 sacks in his time in scarlet and gold.
“I don’t see a lot of hope with (Ford) being a factor for us on the field moving forward,” Lynch said, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.
Ford was a Pro Bowler for Kansas City in 2018, when he recorded 13 sacks in 16 games. But he only played 11 games the next year, one in 2020 and six in 2021. He suffered a concussion last season, but his back has been the main issue.
“I think we tried to be as patient as possible, and no fault of Dee, he just ran into a bad situation with his back, where he couldn’t get healthy,” Lynch said.
Ford, 30, restructured his contract before the 2021 season. The salary cap-manipulating move shrunk his base salary from $15 million to $4 million. His cap hit for 2022 is roughly $7 million, and his dead cap number is over $14 million.
Based on Lynch’s comments, the door’s shutting on Ford. But it’s unclear how SF will handle his contract.
“We’ll figure that out, exactly what the transaction will be,” Lynch said. “But not enough hope and progress to see him playing for us moving forward.”