The SF 49ers are going to be without Dee Ford for their Week 3 game versus the NY Giants, and Ford’s long-term health remains a major problem.
It would be one thing if the SF 49ers were going to miss EDGE Dee Ford for a substantial period of time if the rest of their defensive line was mostly healthy.
After all, Ford was banged up for most of 2019, and the Niners still managed to get within a few minutes of winning the Super Bowl.
But after San Francisco lost fellow EDGE Nick Bosa to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2, the need for Ford to step up and fill the void increased dramatically.
Unfortunately, it’s looking as if that won’t be the case anytime soon.
Ford, who was inactive for Week 2 against the New York Jets, is now reportedly going to miss the 49ers’ Week 3 bout, once again at MetLife Stadium, against the New York Giants, as reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:
After further evaluation, #49ers DE Dee Ford is expected to miss this week’s game against the #Giants and there’s no clear timetable for his return, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. The hope is Ford’s back injury settles down, but it may take some time.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 22, 2020
Bosa’s injury was devastating enough. The idea was both he and Ford would combine to form one of the most lethal one-two pass-rushing duos in the NFL. And while Bosa has emerged as one of the NFL’s most-feared defenders up until his injury, Ford’s tenure with the Niners has been less than ideal.
To alleviate Bosa’s loss, San Francisco inked free-agent veteran pass-rusher Ezekiel Ansah to a one-year deal earlier this week. That could help, provided the oft-injured Ansah bounces back from what was otherwise a frustrating 2019 campaign with the Seattle Seahawks in which he recorded a mere 2.5 sacks, down notably from the 12 he managed in 2017 with the Detroit Lions.
Likewise, Ford’s 2018 campaign, before being traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to San Francisco, was also awfully productive, resulting in a career-best 13 sacks and league-leading seven forced fumbles.
The 49ers have sorely missed that production over the last year-plus.
Have the SF 49ers been burned by the Dee Ford trade?
Neither Ford nor the Niners envisioned this being the reality of the situation, him not being anywhere close to 100 percent over the first two seasons of his five-year, $85 million contract signed shortly after the trade from Kansas City.
In 2019, Ford appeared in 11 regular-season games but saw just over 22 percent of defensive snaps last year (226), which was down from the 87 percent (1,022) seen with the Chiefs in 2018.
And to put things into perspective, Ford received $64,602 for each defensive snap played last season.
That’s not exactly a great allocation of financial resources, particularly considering the SF 49ers are pressed up awfully high against the salary cap and have some long-term player extensions to consider in the very near future, namely linebacker Fred Warner.
Because of this, it’s not surprising to consider Ford becomes a cap casualty in 2021 when he has zero in guaranteed money and cutting him would clear $16 million in cap space if done after June 1.
For now, however, the Super Bowl-hopeful SF 49ers hope Ford can return from the latest injury setback and at least alleviate Bosa’s loss to a likable extent.