49ers salary cap: 4 easy decisions John Lynch must make this offseason

49ers easy move No. 4: Restructure Arik Armstead

Cap space saved in 2022: $9.85 million

For the stat geeks out there, defensive tackle Arik Armstead isn’t proving worthy enough to justify that massive five-year, $85 million extension signed early in 2020.

Even though his six regular-season sacks last year finished third on the defense.

The reality, though, is Armstead does so much for San Francisco’s defensive line that won’t go noticed by the casual football fan. Whether it’s eating up multiple blockers, thereby creating more favorable one-on-one matchups for other pass-rushers, or even wrecking the pocket to cause all kinds of problems for the offense, Armstead is highly valuable to the 49ers no matter what others may say.

Restructuring Armstead is another suggestion Hurley had, and doing so would net an immediate $9.85 million in cap savings in 2022, per Over the Cap, even if it means proverbially “kicking the salary can down the road” a little further.

As Hurley pointed out, though, restructuring other top-paid Niners like tight end George Kittle or safety Jimmie Ward would create other problems. Doing so for Kittle might jeopardize a compensatory-pick selection when his contract runs out in 2026, while Ward’s already-restructured deal would create an additional $4.38 million in dead money with little saved.

Since Armstead has emerged as a key cog to San Francisco’s defense, processing that restructure should be a simple-to-do move.