SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a one-year contract to bring back linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.
A person familiar with the deal said Thursday that Flannigan-Fowles will remain with the Niners for a fifth season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the signing had not been announced.
San Francisco needed depth at linebacker with starter Dre Greenlaw recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the Super Bowl and No. 3 linebacker Oren Burks a free agent.
Flannigan-Fowles has played extensively on special teams during his four seasons with the 49ers and has gotten spot time on defense. He had four tackles in the Super Bowl loss to Kansas City when he came in on defense after Greenlaw got hurt.
The Niners thought they had filled a spot at linebacker on Thursday when they came close to finalizing a deal with Eric Kendricks. But Kendricks changed his mind at the last minute and signed with Dallas instead.
The 49ers have been active in free agency targeting defense, signing free agent defensive linemen Jordan Elliott and Yetur Gross-Matos and re-signing defensive lineman Kevin Givens to a one-year deal.
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San Francisco also has an agreement to sign Leonard Floyd to a two-year contract and acquired defensive tackle Maliek Collins in a trade from Houston.
The Niners needed reinforcements with defensive linemen Javon Kinlaw, Clelin Ferrell, Chase Young and Randy Gregory all free agents. San Francisco also cut longtime defensive tackle Arik Armstead, who agreed Friday to sign a $51 million, three-year deal with Jacksonville, a person with knowledge of the decision said on condition of anonymity because the move hadn’t been announced.
Collins is expected to replace Armstead as the starting defensive tackle alongside Javon Hargrave.
“I don’t think you replace a person like Arik Armstead, the person he is in the community, the person he is on the field,” Collins said Thursday. “I’m just here to add my skillset and bring who I am to the table.”
Armstead was the longest-tenured 49ers player, having been drafted in the first round in 2015. He had 33 1/2 sacks in 116 games in the regular season and his eight career sacks in the postseason are the second most in franchise history to Nick Bosa’s 10.
Armstead also was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award the past four seasons.
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