Philadelphia Eagles: 6 potential free agents from Super Bowl 54 to target

1. Arik Armstead

Plenty of players have stepped up big for the 49ers this season to help give the team one of the best defenses in the NFL, and Arik Armstead certainly sits near the top of that list.

Expectations were high for Armstead back in 2015 when San Francisco decided to use a first-round pick on the defensive end, and even though the argument can be made that he was average at best the first four seasons, things hit new levels in 2019.

After combining for nine sacks from 2015-18, Armstead topped those numbers this past season alone by recording 10 sacks in 16 games.

Consistency is always key for the best defenses in the league, and watching Armstead appear in every game for the 49ers over the last two seasons shows he’s finally living up to that first-round potential.

Once again, there’s every reason to believe that San Francisco will do everything in their power to keep Armstead around, but unfortunately what kind of money he’s looking for could make things a little more complicated in free agency.

If a team like the Eagles are willing to offer Armstead more money, this could make things extra complicated for the 49ers when the time comes, although they could possibly use the franchise tag if they wanted to.