Now that the 49ers have successfully mended fences with Deebo Samuel, signing him to a 3-year, $71.55 million extension, there are still questions on whether the 49ers can extend Nick Bosa, plus Brandon Aiyuk, and I’m here to show you that it’s possible.
First off, we all know the 49ers have $2,814,090 in projected salary cap room for this season, plus they’re going to eventually have to cut Jimmy Garoppolo, saving the team $24.055 million, which would theoretically give the 49ers over $26 million in salary cap room, but remember that we’re still dealing with the top 51 rule, so when the season begins, the entire 53-man roster, plus practice squad, & injured players will count, which will likely leave the 49ers more in the $18 million range of salary cap room.
Now, you may be asking yourself why am I bringing up the 49ers 2022 cap situation, when this article is supposed to be about the future, well it’s because the 49ers will want to carryover as much salary cap room as possible into 2023, as they right now have about $16 million on a $225 million projected cap, but when you add in enough players to get to 51, they’re at just $11 million, so being able to carryover as much as possible would help greatly in retaining, or replacing free agents.
Ok, if you read my article yesterday where I broke down Deebo Samuel’s new extension, plus looked at the 49ers 2022 & 2023 cap situation, you’ll see that the team has 44 players signed for 2023, but that is deceiving, as there are 13 undrafted free agents, & 3 draft picks that may or may not be here in 2023, especially on their current contracts, so of the 44 players, I have 28 players who should be locked into spots on the 2022 roster.
So, the 49ers, if they’re able to carryover, say $15 million into 2023, that would give the 49ers over $26 million in salary cap room, in an offseason where there aren’t many must re-sign players, but there are some good players that the 49ers will want to retain.
The team would likely want to keep the likes of right tackle Mike McGlinchey, defensive end Samson Ebukam, weakside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, strongside linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, & free safety Jimmie Ward, while some players who may surprise could include defensive ends Kerry Hyder Jr., Jordan Willis, Charles Omenihu, & Kemoko Turay, and the oft-injured cornerback Jason Verrett, while the rest are either players who won’t make the 2022 roster, or are replaceable.
The team also has a few players that the team would likely want to keep, wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who is a ERFA, & will only cost $940,000 on a 1-year tender, and RFA offensive lineman Colton McKivitz, & defensive tackle Kevin Givens, who would require tenders in the $2.6 million range, but these 2 would likely be easier to re-sign to cheap 1 or 2 year deals.
Now when it comes to Nick Bosa, he’s set to count $17.869 million, which is his 5th-year option, and is fully guaranteed, the 49ers can easily sign Bosa to a 5-year extension, worth in the neighborhood of $32 million to $35 million a year, with over $100 million in guaranteed money, plus they will likely be able to lower Bosa’s 2023 cap number, thus saving some cap room.
Now when it comes to Brandon Aiyuk, who looks to be having a breakout camp, the 49ers likely won’t extend Aiyuk in 2023, but they will most certainly exercise his 5th-year option, which they can then do the same thing I described above with Bosa, which would allow the team to save some salary cap room, but it’s unknown what Aiyuk’s 2024 cap number would be.
Now when we look at 2024, the 49ers would have $63 million in cap room, as of now, with 38 players signed, again there’s 13 UDFAs, and a few draft picks that may not be here by then, but with 51 players signed, the team would still have over $54 million in cap room on a $256 million salary cap, and you have to imagine that any extension for Bosa, & Aiyuk would have low year 1, & year 2 cap numbers, meaning the 49ers can also go into free agency, and sign some good free agents.
I don’t like to get myself to far ahead, but with the Deebo Samuel extension, I just thought I’d give a look into what the 49ers future looks like.
As always, thank you for reading, and follow me on Twitter @49erscap for more salary cap information, & tidbits.
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