Taking a peak at the 49ers 2020 salary cap situation after the first 4 weeks of the 2019 season

With the first quarter of the 2019 regular season in the books, and the 49ers sitting at 3-0, I thought this would be a good time to take a peak towards 2020’s salary cap situation.

Right now the 49ers have 43 players signed for 2020, counting for $194,315,398, plus an additional $298,692 in dead money, leaving them $6,405,910 under a projected $200 million salary cap, that is of course before carryover.

As of now, the 49ers have $20,389,023 in salary cap room this season, and added to the above number, it would give the 49ers a projected $26,794,933 in cap space for 2020.

The 49ers have several players, in which their contracts are up after 2019 or 2020, who look to be worthy of contract extensions, they are listed below.

RB Matt Breida
FB Kyle Juszcyzk
TE George Kittle
DE Arik Armstead
DE Ronald Blair III
DT DeForest Buckner
CB Richard Sherman
CB Ahkello Witherspoon

First off, Breida is a restricted free agent, and should receive a 2nd-round tender, which, with a $200 million cap, would be $3.278 million, according to OverTheCap. If we add that to the 49ers commitments, it would leave the 49ers with $22,496,933 in cap room.

Next up the 49ers would likely tender exclusive right free agents Nick Mullens, and Jeff Wilson Jr. Those tenders would be for $660,000 each. That’s $1.32 million combined, leaving the 49ers at $21,176,933 in cap room.

Now if the season ended today, they would likely sign their 10-man practice squad to reserve/future deals, those would look like the following for 2020.

WR Malik Henry – $510,000
TE Daniel Helm – $510,000
LG Ross Reynolds – $510,000
LT Jaryd Jones-Smith – $510,000
DE Jeremiah Valoaga – $585,000
DT Kevin Givens – $510,000
SLB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles – $510,000
SLB Elijah Lee – $660,000
CB Teez Tabor – $660,000
SS Marcell Harris – $585,000

Now this would put the team in the top 51 protocol, which means they would have $17,816,933 in cap room, with 55 players committed to 2020 contracts.

Now let’s look at ways the 49ers can create much needed salary cap room.

First off, they can restructure Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal, by adding 2 additonal years to his deal, and lowering his base salary to $1 million, it would save the team $18.24 million against the cap, while locking Garoppolo up through 2024. If we add the $18.24 million to the current cap room noted above, they’d be $36,056,933 under the 2020 cap.

They also have several veterans who they could move on from, let’s take a look at those, and what they’d save if they did so.

RB Jerick McKinnon – $4.04 million, note that McKinnon has $2.6 million of his base salary guaranteed for injury, and fully on April 1, 2020.

LG Laken Tomlinson – $2.24 million, note that Tomlinson has his base salary guaranteed for injury, and fully on April 1, 2020

RG Mike Person – $1.99 million

CB K’Waun Williams – $1.94 million

SS Jaquiski Tartt – $4.39 million

Now let’s take a look at potential extensions for guys like Buckner, Kittle, Witherspoon, Sherman, and Juszcyzk, and what they could look like average per year wise.

The 49ers biggest extensions they need to take care of are DeForest Buckner, and George Kittle. Buckner, in my opinion, will become the 2nd highest paid interior defensive lineman, in the $20 million a year range, while Kittle will likely become the highest paid tight end at around $10.5 million a year.

A new deal for Ahkello Witherspoon shouldn’t be too pricy, likely in the $4.5 million to $5 million a year.

I’d expect Kyle Juszcyzk, and Richard Sherman to come in at their current average per year, which are $5.25 million for Juszcyzk, and $9.05 million for Sherman.

Deals for Buckner, Juszcyzk, and Sherman wouldn’t need to take up much, if any, cap room, as the 49ers can turn the majority of their base salaries into the bonus structure(signing bonus prorations, and a likely guaranteed roster bonus), while deals for Kittle, and Witherspoon would require the use of salary cap room.

Now let’s look at pending free agents, and what they could look to get on new deals with the 49ers.

Arik Armstead has showed that he’s greatly improved under Robert Saleh, and new defensive line coach Kris Kourcek, and he should get in the $8 million to $9 million a year range.

Ronald Blair III has showed an ability to rush the passer, and make a difference when given the chance, should command in the $4 million to $5 million range.

Now let’s say Kittle’s deal takes up $8 million of the teams cap space, Witherspoon’s deal takes up $3 million in cap space, while Armstead at $9 million, and Blair at $5 million, would leave the 49ers with $11,056,933 in cap room, which is more than enough to sign their draft class, and this is without any potential cap cuts.

Cap cut wise, I believe McKinnon and Tartt are the most likely options, which would clear $8.43 million in cap room, leaving the team $19,486,933, which is enough for the team to go out in free agency, and improve the roster even more.

So to those who want a quick fix, the 49ers can’t afford to trade for someone like Jalen Ramsey, Chris Harris, or anyone with a big salary, as it would deplete their salary cap in 2019, and leave little, to nothing, in carryover for 2020.

Three other exclusive right free agents the 49ers would likely tender would only cost $585,000 for Emmanuel Moseley, Daniel Brunskil, and Ross Dwelley, who would cost $660,000, but they wouldn’t have much of an impact on the teams offseason salary cap room.

The 49ers would need to make decisions on some free agents, namely veterans Levine Toilolo, Ben Garland, Shon Coleman, Sheldon Day, Jason Verrett, Jimmie Ward, and Antone Exum Jr.

To summarize what I’ve laid out for everyone is simple, the 49ers can keep their core intact, while adding some pieces to the puzzle, but if the 49ers were to opt for short term fixes, it would greatly hamper their efforts to keep the guys outlined in this article, and those acquired via trade.

If the 49ers decided to keep McKinnon and Tartt, they’d still have enough cap space to go out and sign a few free agents, and their entire draft class.

The chart showing it is below.

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.

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