DE Arik Armstead talks about his new deal and how the 49ers will look next season
Arik Armstead talks about his new deal, the departure of longtime teammate and friend, DeForest Buckner, getting over a Super Bowl loss, how the NFC West looks, and his thoughts on an expanded playoff format.
Video Transcript
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ARIK ARMSTEAD: I was extremely excited. San Fran's the place I wanted to be. I didn't see myself playing really anywhere else. It's close to home, and necessarily wasn't about how much money I could get, trying to get as much money as possible on the open market. I wanted to be compensated, but I really wanted to stay in the Bay Area, be close to home, continue my efforts and impact my community and continue playing with this team and trying to get back to the Super Bowl. We have a great young team. I'm just happy to be part of it and contribute in so many ways. So I'm just excited about our future and I was ecstatic when we were able to get the deal done.
Yeah, it was definitely shocking. We've grown comfortable playing alongside each other for eight years. College and in the league, so I'm super happy for him. And he definitely deserved the opportunity. That's life-changing for him and his family. And I know he's going to do great things up there in Indianapolis. I wish we were still playing together, of course, but me and him have talked about it and came to terms with it. And we're both super happy and excited for each other.
Definitely want that feeling of winning that game. And so that's going to drive me and my teammates. I think we have a team capable of getting back there. We've gone there know that feeling of losing it, so definitely it's going to push us to get there and try to win it. So, yeah, but I'm not a person who is going to harp over it and continue to be depressed by it. It happened, you from it and you move on. You don't forget it though. You let it motivate you and drive you in the future.
It was crazy, it was a big move. Cardinals are an up and coming team, I feel like. They have great players. So our division is always tough with the acquisition. But I'm excited for the challenge. We were able to win in our division last year. We're going to try and keep it that way this coming up season. No, I wasn't surprised. I mean, you can't keep everybody. They paid Goff, paid AD. And they got to pay Ramsey coming up here pretty soon. So can't hold on to everybody.
Gurley was definitely a shocker. Todd's a great player, a great guy, crazy stuff happens this league every day, So I know the playoffs for sure, is going to be exciting for a lot of fans and make it even more competitive. So I'm excited about it. We'll see. The league is constantly changing and it's one of the changes that's made and I can't wait to be part of it.
