Breaking down the 49ers trade for Texans DT Maliek Collins

The 49ers found their Arik Armstead replacement by making a trade with an old friend.

The San Francisco 49ers made their first trade of the offseason when sending a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for defensive tackle Maliek Collins on Wednesday.

The move preceded San Francisco’s release of longtime defensive tackle Arik Armstead and should complete the top-end of the team’s rotation on the interior after the 49ers signed Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Jordan Elliott to a two-year, $10 million deal as well.

Collins, 28, is coming off a five-sack season with the Texans, where he played as a starter in former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans’s defense.

How does this move impact the 49ers?

Collins’s contract

For the Texans, this was essentially a salary-dump trade, as Houston made multiple splashes along their defensive line earlier in the week, signing Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million deal and Denico Autry to a two-year, $20 million deal.

As a result, Collins became expendable and the 49ers went calling, securing the missing piece for their interior defensive line.

Collins comes to the 49ers on a two-year, $$18.5 million contract, with his $8 million base salary in 2024 fully guaranteed.

Additionally, Collins has a per-game roster bonus of nearly $500,000, boosting his cap hit to $8.47 million for the upcoming season.

As for 2025, Collins’s $9.5 million salary is non-guaranteed, meaning the 49ers have full flexibility with his deal and can get out after one season should they need to.

At $8.47 million this season, Collins is significantly cheaper than Arik Armstead, although the latter is the better player.

Still, Collins is just 28 years old, and this contract should take him through his prime years.

Collins’s impact

What are the 49ers getting in Collins as a player?

Well, the defensive tackle has been one of the better interior pass rushers in the NFL over the past few years, which should add a boost alongside Javon Hargrave on the interior.

Over the past two years, Collins has racked up 85 pressures and 8.5 sacks, while recording the sixth-highest pass-rush win rate of any interior defensive lineman since 2021, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

Looking specifically at the past two seasons, Collins was third in pass-rush win rate in 2022 at 17.4 percent before ranking 12th in 2023 at 12.9 percent. In addition, Collins faced a 60 percent double-team rate this past season.

For reference, Arik Armstead was 10th in 2023 with a 13.3 pass-rush win rate, while facing a 59 percent double-team rate.

In Houston, Collins was also helpful in reforming their run defense working with Sheldon Rankins on the interior.

After being the worst run-defending team in 2022, allowing 170.2 yards a game on the ground, the Texans transformed this past season, jumping to sixth and allowing just 96.6 yards a game.

Now, Collins isn’t the best run defender, but is capable, and possesses the right set of tools to be a good pass rusher for the 49ers.

Collins’s role

How will Collins fit with the 49ers?

Well, they signed Jordan Elliott to essentially replace the Javon Kinlaw void, with Collins being the cherry on top.

Elliott is a strong run defender, which is what he’ll be tasked to do in San Francisco.

In 2023, Elliott ranked sixth among all interior defenders, recording a 40 percent run-stop win rate, while facing the third-highest double-team rate (45 percent) of the Top 10 players.

Meanwhile, Collins is a good pass-rusher with an explosive first step and a number of moves in his arsenal, providing the 49ers with a good 1-2 punch that they can use on run-defending and pass-rushing downs.

Now working in San Francisco, Collins should face more 1-on-1 opportunities, where he can thrive as a pass-rusher.

Both players are under two-year contracts with flexibility in 2024 and can be rotational pieces in San Francisco, keeping them fresh for the entirety of the season.

Additionally, they’ve been durable, as Collins has played in at least 15 games in each of the past three seasons, while Elliott has played in at least 16 games in every year of his career.

Given the fact that San Francisco moved just a seventh-round pick for Collins, this is one of their best moves of the offseason, and one that should benefit the team from a pass-rushing standpoint in 2023.

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