2 biggest headaches John Lynch, 49ers have dealt with in 2022
By Peter Panacy
49ers headache No. 2: Dee Ford is an expensive lost cause
A season ago, it seemed a small miracle EDGE Dee Ford was able to return from a serious back injury suffered after just one week’s play in 2020. And while Ford was able to appear in six games a year ago, registering three sacks in the process, that same back injury ended up relegating him to season-ending injured reserve.
Now, John Lynch and the Niners restructred Ford’s deal this offseason, but it wasn’t with the intent of keeping him around for the long run.
No, it was to spread apart the still-sizable cap hit Ford commands after having received a hefty contract extension once San Francisco traded for him from the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2019 for a second-round draft pick.
John Lynch doesn’t see Dee Ford returning to the #49ers.
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) March 28, 2022
Assuming they do a post-June 1 release on him, here’s what he’s going to cost:
2022: $5.83M
2023: $5.83M
But does come with $1.1M and $2.76M cap savings over the next two years. Just brutal.
“I don’t see a lot of hope in him being a factor for us on the field moving forward,” Lynch added when asked about Ford.
San Francisco has already sunk more than $41 million into Ford over three seasons, and yet he’s appeared in just 18 regular-season games during that timeframe, his career all but derailed by significant injuries.
In another hindsight measure, Lynch and the 49ers have to be thinking about their regrets for engineering that trade, which has to go down as one of the worst in recent team history.
If only that wasn’t the case. But it is.
Next. Ranking 49ers' 10 worst trades in franchise history. dark