49ers News: Dee Ford Released by SF After 3 Seasons with Team

Defensive lineman Dee Ford is no longer a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFC West team announced Wednesday that it had released Ford. He played the past three seasons with the 49ers after they acquired him from the Kansas City Chiefs via trade in March 2019.

The Auburn product never lived up to expectations in San Francisco in large part because of injury concerns.

He was a Pro Bowler with the Chiefs in his final season when he tallied 55 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and a league-best seven forced fumbles but never reached that level in the NFC. While Ford posted a solid 6.5 sacks in 11 games in 2019, he appeared in just one contest in 2020 and six games this past year.

The 31-year-old managed three sacks in those six games in 2021, but it was a far cry from when he was at his best in Kansas City.

Ford has two seasons with double-digit sack totals in his career but will likely always be associated with an infamous play that contributed to the end of the Chiefs' 2018 campaign.

Kansas City appeared to all but clinch an AFC Championship Game victory over the New England Patriots when Tom Brady threw an interception in the final minute with his side trailing by four, but Ford lined up in the neutral zone to start the play.

The Chiefs missed out on a chance to play in the Super Bowl when they eventually lost in overtime and, in a cruel twist of fate, defeated Ford's 49ers with the Lombardi Trophy at stake the following season.

Ford is still looking for that elusive Super Bowl victory and will have to do so on a different team than San Francisco following his release.