49ers acquire Maliek Collins from Texans for late-round pick, AP source says
Wed, Mar 13, 2024
NFL News (AP)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers have added more help to their defensive line, agreeing to acquire defensive tackle Maliek Collins in a trade from Houston for a seventh-round draft pick.
A person familiar with the trade said the Niners will acquire Collins pending a physical. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been announced by either team.
ESPN first reported the deal.
Collins is the latest addition made by the 49ers to their revamped defensive line after San Francisco had previously agreed to deals with free agent defensive ends Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos, and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, according to several sources speaking on condition of anonymity because those deals hadn't been signed.
San Francisco needed reinforcements on the line with Chase Young, Clelin Ferrell, Javon Kinlaw and Randy Gregory all hitting free agency and Arik Armstead set to be released this week in a cost-cutting move.
Collins, who turns 29 next month, is owed base salaries of $8 million and $9.5 million the next two seasons. Houston will take a $10 million dead cap hit for the trade to account for a signing bonus paid when he got an extension last year.
Collins matched a career high with five sacks last season when he ranked 12th among all defensive tackles in ESPN's pass rush win rate metric. He had 11 sacks, 26 tackles for loss and 35 quarterback hits the past three seasons for the Texans.
Collins played his first four seasons in Dallas and in 2020 for the Raiders before joining the Texans.
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