Taking a look at the 49ers salary cap situation for 2020 and beyond

I’ve recently went over the 49ers 2020 salary cap situation, and I want to now look at 2020, and beyond, and why the 49ers can retain their core players.

I’ve identified 8 players who are in line for new deals, and they are below.

FB Kyle Juszyzck

TE George Kittle

DE Arik Armstead

DE Ronald Blair III

DT DeForest Buckner

CB Richard Sherman

CB Ahkello Witherspoon

FS Jimmie Ward

With Juszyzck, Buckner, and Sherman, they can convert most of their base salaries in 2020, using the difference to their bonus structures.

With Kittle, Armstead, Blair, Witherspoon, and Ward, they will cost salary cap room, so the 49ers can create it by restructuring Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal.

By doing so, the 49ers would create $19.204 million in cap space, also the 49ers will likely move on from Jerick McKinnon.

I have the following average per year for the above 8 players.

FB Kyle Juszyzck – $5 million

TE George Kittle – $12 million

DE Arik Armstead – $12 million

DE Ronald Blair III – $5 million

DT DeForest Buckner – $20 million

CB Richard Sherman – $9 million

CB Ahkello Witherspoon – $7 million

FS Jimmie Ward – $5 million

Now I doubt the 49ers will structure the deals where they just have each year having the players APY counting against the cap. Instead, the 49ers will likely backload the deals into 2022 and beyond, when the 49ers have over $125 million in cap room in 2022, and over $211 million in 2023. These assume a $220 million cap for 2022, and a $230 million cap for 2023.

I have the 49ers signing Buckner, and Kittle to 5-year deals through 2025.

 I have the 49ers signing Juszyzck, Witherspoon, Blair, Armstead to 4-year deals through 2024.

I have the 49ers signing Sherman to 3-year deals through 2023.

And I have the 49ers signing Ward to a 2-year deal through 2022.

I also have the 49ers tendering Matt Breida at the 2^nd-round tender, which should be $3.278 million, while I also have them tendering exclusive rights free agents Nick Mullens, Jeff Wilson Jr., Ross Dwelley, Daniel Brunskill, and Emmanuel Moseley.

Mullens, Wilson, and Dwelley’s tenders would be for $660,000, while Brunskill, and Moseley’s tenders would be for $585,000.

Mullens, Wilson, and Dwelley will be restricted free agents in 2021, but I’ve left them off my list as it’s way to early and hard to project RFA tender amounts for 2021. The same goes for Moseley, and Brunskill, who would be RFAs in 2022.

As for key 2021 free agents, I have the 49ers re-signing Jaquiski Tartt to a 3-year deal, averaging $5 million a year, K’Waun Williams to a 3-year deal, averaging $3 million a year, Matt Breida to a 3-year deal, averaging $4.5 million a year, and Tevin Coleman to a 2-year deal, averaging $4.5 million a year.

I have the 49ers restructuring Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal again, which would be the last time doing this, and they would save over $18 million in salary cap space.

I also have the 49ers restructuring Dee Ford’s deal, which would save the team over $10 million in salary cap space.

Below are the cap tables for 2020-2023, and again I expect the 49ers to backload the deals into 2022, and 2023, for those signing deals that run though those years.

2020 Table:

2021 Table:

2022 Table:

2023 Table:

Again, I don’t have some players factored in that the 49ers would like to keep around, namely, Nick Mullens, Ross Dwelley, Jeff Wilson Jr., and Emmanuel Moseley. They shouldn’t cost a ton of money, but it’s too early, and hard to project deals for them. I could also see them holding onto Daniel Brunskill as well.

And as you can see, the 49ers have enough cap space to sign their draft picks in 2022-2023. Also it’s too hard to project those numbers for now.

Now this is all possible as long as the 49ers don’t trade for a high salaried player.

Also in 2021 Fred Warner, Mike McGlinchey, Dante Pettis, and the rest of the 2018 draft class will be eligible for new deals, while Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd, and the rest of the 2019 draft class will be eligible for new deals.

The 49ers can create more cap room in 2021 by extending Marquise Goodwin, and Joe Staley, by lowering their base salaries, and converting them into their bonus structures.

Also Goodwin could be seen a cap casualty, which would free up $5.85 million, while Staley could wind up retiring, which would free up $12 million in salary cap room.

One last note, some or most of these deals could include incentives, especially for the offensive skill players, and also the defensive backs, which would minimize those players cap hits.

About Author

Jason Hurley

Die Hard 49ers fan from New York, been covering the 49ers salary cap since 2005, with several different websites, including NinersNation.com, & the now defunct NinerCapHell, I have a track record of being as accurate as possible, I try to be as thorough as possible, and you can find me on X/Twitter @49erscap, & on Blue Sky App @49erscap.bsky.social.

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