I think it’s time to look at the 49ers 2023 salary cap situation, especially with the season-ending injury to Jimmy Garoppolo.
The 49ers currently have 33 players signed for 2023, accounting for $199,068,582, along with $17,085,988 in dead money, for a total of $216,154,570, leaving the 49ers $8,845,430 under a projected $225 million salary cap, but that’s with just 33 players, with 51 players, the 49ers would be $4,654,570 over that $225 million salary cap.
Below are the 33 players signed, with their current 2023 cap number.
- QB 5 Trey Lance(2024)- $9,301,434
- QB 13 Brock Purdy(2024)- $889,253
- RB 23 Christian McCaffrey(2025)- $12,000,000
- RB 25 Elijah Mitchell(2024)- $985,893
- RB 32 Tyrion Davis-Price(2025)- $1,161,033
- RB 24 Jordan Mason(2024)- $873,333
- FB 44 Kyle Juszczyk(2025)- $6,565,221
- WR 19 Deebo Samuel(2025)- $8,680,000
- WR 11 Brandon Aiyuk(2023)- $3,987,248
- WR/KR/PR 3 Ray-Ray McCloud III(2023)- $2,090,000
- WR 6 Danny Gray(2025)- $1,146,569
- TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- $18,033,751
- TE 89 Charlie Woerner(2023)- $1,055,258
- LG 65 Aaron Banks(2024)- $1,929,166
- LG 63 Nick Zakelj(2025)- $917,590
- RG 74 Spencer Burford(2025)- $1,038,014
- LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- $27,227,424
- RT 76 Jaylon Moore(2024)- $1,020,759
- DE 97 Nick Bosa(2023)- $17,869,000
- DE 95 Drake Jackson(2025)- $1,339,180
- DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)- $23,993,059
- DT/NT 99 Javon Kinlaw(2023)- $4,928,223
- NT 93 Kalia Davis(2025)- $903,003
- WLB 57 Dre Greenlaw(2024)- $5,677,970
- MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- $18,525,000
- MLB 48 Oren Burks(2023)- $2,773,000
- CB 7 Charvarius Ward(2024)- $16,405,000
- CB 20 Ambry Thomas(2024)- $1,305,232
- CB 38 Deommodore Lenoir(2024)- $1,011,217
- CB 26 Samuel Womack III(2025)- $940,831
- SS 29 Talanoa Hufanga(2024)- $1,000,038
- SS 30 George Odum(2024)- $1,840,000
- P 18 Mitch Wishnowsky(2026)- $1,700,000
Now, below are the top candidates for restructures.
RB Christian McCaffrey – $8.576 million max, $7,146,666 minimum
TE George Kittle – $8.456 million max, $7,927,500 minimum
LT Trent Williams – $14.588 million max, $13,676,250 minimum
DT Arik Armstead – $11.78 million max, $11,043,750 minimum
MLB Fred Warner – $9.476 million max, $8,883,750 minimum
Now, let’s look at what the 49ers should get back in form of adjustments/credits.
First up are the veterans.
QB Nate Sudfeld- $1.035 million out of $2 million that he was guaranteed when he signed with the 49ers in the offseason, so they’ll eat $965,000.
WR Malik Turner- $300,000, as Turner’s spent time on the 49ers practice squad, and is now on the Raiders practice squad.
WR Marcus Johnson- $250,000, as Johnson was on the Giants practice squad, and is now on their 53-man roster.
DE Kemoko Turay- $751,900, if Turay stays on the 49ers practice squad for the remainder of the season.
CB Dontae Johnson- $358,200, maybe more, as he could be activated up to 3 times, which would make it $471,000, or more if the team or another team signs him to their 53-man roster.
That’s a total of $2,695,100.
Next are UDFAs that were given guarantees in their base salaries.
WR Tay Martin- $45,000
RG Jason Poe- $65,000
SLB Marcelino McCrary-Ball- $100,000
CB Qwuantrezz Knight- $25,000
FS Tayler Hawkins- $50,000
They will also get back $935,294 from Jimmy Garoppolo, Deebo Samuel, Kyle Juszczyk, Trent Williams, Samson Ebukam, Arik Armstead, Dre Greenlaw, Emmanuel Moseley, Jimmie Ward’s per game roster bonuses not being achieved.
And finally, with the season-ending injury to Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers should get back $2.35 million, so they should get back as much as $6,265,394 in 2023.
The 49ers have the following free agents to be.
UFA:
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
QB Josh Johnson
TE Ross Dwelley
TE Tyler Kroft
TE Jordan Matthews
C Jake Brendel
C Daniel Brunskill
RT Mike McGlinchey
DE Jordan Willis
DE Samson Ebukam
DE Kerry Hyder Jr.
DE Charles Omenihu
DT T.Y. McGill Jr.
DT Maurice Hurst Jr.
NT Hassan Ridgeway
SLB Azeez Al-Shaair
CB Emmanuel Moseley
CB Jason Verrett
FS Jimmie Ward
FS Tashaun Gipson Sr.
FS Tarvarius Moore
PK Robbie Gould
LS Taybor Pepper
RFA:
LT Colton McKivitz
DT Kevin Givens
SLB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
ERFA:
WR Jauan Jennings
WLB Curtis Robinson
Practice Squad FA:
QB Jacob Eason
RB Tevin Coleman
WR Tay Martin
WR Willie Snead IV
WR Dazz Newsome
C Keith Ismael
RG Jason Poe
LT Leroy Watson
RT Alfredo Gutierrez
DE Alex Barrett
DE Kemoko Turay
DT Akeem Spence
SLB Marcelino McCrary-Ball
CB Dontae Johnson
CB Qwuantrezz Knight
CB Janoris Jenkins
FS Tayler Hawkins
The 49ers will likely want to bring back the likes of center Jake Brendel, defensive ends Samson Ebukam, Kerry Hyder Jr., & Charles Omenihu, defensive tackle T.Y. McGill Jr., nose tackle Hassan Ridgeway, strongside linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, & free safety Tashaun Gipson Sr.
I expect the 49ers to tender all of their RFAs, & ERFAs, those being wide receiver Jauan Jennings, left tackle Colton McKivitz, defensive tackle Kevin Givens, weakside linebacker Curtis Robinson, & strongside linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.
Now, the 49ers are projected to have the following draft picks, this is as of week 12, so check back in a few days for updated numbers.
3rd-Round – #99th (Compensatory Pick for losing Robert Saleh/Martin Mayhew)
3rd-Round – #101st (Compensatory Pick for losing Mike McDaniel)
5th-Round – #155th (Own Pick)
5th-Round – #162nd (from Miami Dolphins)
5th-Round – #173rd (Compensatory Pick for losing D.J. Jones)
6th-Round – #216th (Compensatory Pick for losing Arden Key)
7th-Round – #222nd (from Denver Broncos)
7th-Round – #240th (Own Pick)
Below are the projected cap numbers, in table format.
Pick | 2023 Cap | 2023 Base | 2023 SB | 2024 Cap | 2024 Base | 2024 SB | 2025 Cap | 2025 Base | 2025 SB | 2026 Cap | 2026 Base | 2026 SB |
Round 3(#99th) | $980,991 | $750,000 | $230,991 | $1,226,239 | $995,248 | $230,991 | $1,471,487 | $1,240,496 | $230,991 | $1,716,735 | $1,485,744 | $230,991 |
Round 3(#101st) | $980,991 | $750,000 | $230,991 | $1,226,239 | $995,248 | $230,991 | $1,471,487 | $1,240,496 | $230,991 | $1,716,735 | $1,485,744 | $230,991 |
Round 5(#155th) | $835,247 | $750,000 | $85,247 | $1,000,247 | $915,000 | $85,247 | $1,115,247 | $1,030,000 | $85,247 | $1,230,247 | $1,145,000 | $85,247 |
Round 5(#162nd) | $830,572 | $750,000 | $80,572 | $995,572 | $915,000 | $80,572 | $1,110,572 | $1,030,000 | $80,572 | $1,225,572 | $1,145,000 | $80,572 |
Round 5(#173rd) | $815,992 | $750,000 | $65,992 | $980,992 | $915,000 | $65,992 | $1,095,992 | $1,030,000 | $65,992 | $1,210,992 | $1,145,000 | $65,992 |
Round 6(#216th) | $785,917 | $750,000 | $35,917 | $950,917 | $915,000 | $35,917 | $1,065,917 | $1,030,000 | $35,917 | $1,180,917 | $1,145,000 | $35,917 |
Round 7(#222nd) | $779,739 | $750,000 | $29,739 | $944,739 | $915,000 | $29,739 | $1,059,739 | $1,030,000 | $29,739 | $1,174,739 | $1,145,000 | $29,739 |
Round 7(#240th) | $772,984 | $750,000 | $22,984 | $937,984 | $915,000 | $22,984 | $1,052,984 | $1,030,000 | $22,984 | $1,167,984 | $1,145,000 | $22,984 |
TOTAL | $6,782,433 | $6,000,000 | $782,433 | $8,262,929 | $7,480,496 | $782,433 | $9,443,425 | $8,660,992 | $782,433 | $10,623,921 | $9,841,488 | $782,433 |
If we add in those picks in, plus the 5 tenders, the 49ers would be $8.675,602 over the cap with 47 players signed, with 51 signed they’d be $11,675,602 over, but this doesn’t include credits, with the credits they’d be $2,410,208 over with 47 players signed, or $5,410,208 over with 51 signed, so they’ll need to restructure some players contracts, with the most likely ones being McCaffrey, Williams, & Warner, which would save a max of $32.64 million, which would give the 49ers $25.604 million to spend on their own players, or to replace players who leave, but this doesn’t take into account Nick Bosa’s pending extension, which should save some money.
So, there you have it, the 49ers 2022 salary cap situation, post Jimmy Garoppolo injury, along with draft picks & RFA/ERFA tenders taken into account.
As always, thank you for reading, you can follow me on twitter @49erscap for more salary cap information & tidbits.