San Francisco 49ers are ‘a perfect situation’ for Javon Hargrave

“My agent told me that they are really interested in me. I couldn’t believe it myself,” Hargrave said to the media on a Zoom conference call Thursday. “Sometimes when you try to go get the money, you have to go to a team that’s in a rebuild mode. But when you got a chance to join a team that was just in the NFC championship, that was kind of an easy choice for me.

“It really made me happy because I was really nervous about free agency and where I was gonna have to go. But I feel like this was a perfect situation for me.”

Hargrave, who spent the past three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, was initially nervous about possibly going to a team in the midst of a rebuild, he can now rest assured that he is joining a 49ers franchise that has appeared in consecutive NFC championship games.

“When you go into free agency and you have a great team that wants you, I feel like it’s not really a hard decision to make,” Hargrave said. “That’s all you like in football is winning and getting paid.”

And Hargrave is getting paid well.

The defensive tackle officially put ink to paper on a four-year, $84 million contract with the 49ers, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the deal.

Hargrave was considered by many around the NFL as the top free agent defensive player. The defensive tackle is coming off a season in which he had 60 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He is joining a 49ers squad that had the league’s top-rated total and scoring defense last year. San Francisco’s defense boasts reigning NFL defensive player of the year defensive end Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Arik Armstead and linebacker Fred Warner in what was already a formidable front seven prior to the addition of Hargrave.

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San Francisco also signed defensive lineman Clelin Ferrell to bolster its defensive front.

Bosa and Armstead talked to Hargrave shortly after he decided to join the 49ers. When asked about playing alongside Bosa and Armstead, Hargrave smiled and said he’s looking forward to being part of a defense that just got more talented with his arrival.

“Nick (Bosa) is the defensive player of the year,” Hargrave said. “It frees up everybody else and it’ll free me up a lot. I’m just ready to be around the guys, learn how they play the game and pick their brains a little bit. That can help me be a better player, too.”