So, we all know that this COVID-19/conronavirus has taken over 100,000 American lives, and it looks like the 2020 NFL season will at the very best be played with no fans in the stadiums, at worse, it’ll be canceled, but for the purpose of this article, let’s say it’s not canceled, but fans aren’t permitted into stadiums. What will that exactly do the salary cap.

Well, the NFL will lose billions of dollars due to no fans in the stadiums, despite the revenue from TV deals, which means the NFL salary cap will likely go down from the current $198.2 million per team.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it could decrease/fall as much as $30 million to $80 million, which would bring it back to the 2013-2014 range of the NFL salary cap.

Now, to me, this is just ridiculous for the NFL to lower the 2021 salary cap, to me, the owners, who already are billionaires, and make billions each year, should take this one on the chin, but likely that won’t happen, thus the NFL will lower the salary cap, which means we could see a holdout from the NFLPA over this.

But, let’s get back to this article, the 49ers currently have 55 players signed for 2021, with a commitment of $172,142,496, but with the top 51 rule applied, the team’s commitment is $169,022,496, which under the current projected salary cap, which would be $215 million per team, the 49ers would have $45,977,504 in cap room, but we know that the team will likely extend George Kittle this offseason, and they have several players making money that they won’t see in 2021.

Most teams will have between 30-35 players signed for 2021 when rosters are finalized, and the season goes on. In my projected 53-man roster, below, I have the 49ers at 34 players signed for 2021.

53-Man Roster + Injured List:

1. QB 10 Jimmy Garoppolo(2022) – $26.6 million cap hit
2. QB 4 Nick Mullens(2020) – $750,000 cap hit
3. RB 31 Raheem Mostert(2021) – $3,158,333 cap hit
4. RB 26 Tevin Coleman(2020) – $4,868,750 cap hit
5. RB 28 Jerick McKinnon(2020) – $4.91 million cap hit
6. RB 30 Jeff Wilson Jr.(2020) – $750,000 cap hit
7. FB 44 Kyle Juszyzck(2020) – $6.7 million cap hit
8. WR 19 Deebo Samuel(2022) – $1,749,339 cap hit
9. WR 11 Brandon Ayiuk(2023) – $2,278,427 cap hit
10. WR 84 Kendrick Bourne(2020) – $3.259 million cap hit
11. WR 15 Trent Taylor(2020) – $875,487 cap hit
12. WR 18 Dante Pettis(2021)- $1,745,606 cap hit
13. WR 14 Jalen Hurd(2022) – $972,655 cap hit (PUP)
14. WR 81 Jauan Jennings(2023) – $637,756 cap hit
15. TE 85 George Kittle(2020) – $2,207,574 cap hit
16. TE 82 Ross Dwelley(2020) – $750,000 cap hit
17. TE 89 Charlie Woerner(2023) – $655,258 cap hit
18. C 58 Weston Richburg(2022) – $4,390,141 cap hit
19. C 63 Ben Garland(2020) – $2 million cap hit
20. LG 75 Laken Tomlinson(2021) – $5.75 million cap hit
21. RG 60 Daniel Brunskill(2020) – $675,000 cap hit
22. RG 68 Colton McKivitz(2023) – $692,445 cap hit
23. LT 71 Trent Williams(2020) – $12.5 million cap hit
24. LT 78 Shon Coleman(2020) – $962,500 cap hit
25. RT 69 Mike McGlinchey(2021) – $5,092,330 cap hit
26. RT 67 Justin Skule(2022) – $719,887 cap hit
27. DE 91 Arik Armstead(2024) – $6 million cap hit
28. DE 97 Nick Bosa(2022) – $7,715,424 cap hit
29. DE 92 Kerry Hyder Jr.(2020) – $1.5 million cap hit
30. LEO 55 Dee Ford(2023) – $15,865,625 cap hit
31. LEO 98 Ronald Blair III(2020) – $1,047,500 cap hit (PUP)
32. DT 99 Javon Kinlaw(2023) – $2,816,127 cap hit
33. DT 94 Solomon Thomas(2020) – $7,715,424 cap hit
34. DT 90 Kevin Givens(2021) – $610,000 cap hit
35. DT 95 Kentavius Street(2021) – $902,500 cap hit
36. NT 93 D.J. Jones(2020) – $861,967 cap hit
37. NT 65 Darrion Daniels(2022) – $618,333 cap hit
38. NT 77 Jullian Taylor(2021) – $774,511 cap hit (PUP)
39. SAM 57 Dre Greenlaw(2022) – $755,429 cap hit
40. MIKE 54 Fred Warner(2021) – $1,096,547 cap hit
41. MIKE 51 Azeez Al-Shaair(2021) – $680,000 cap hit
42. WILL 56 Kwon Alexander(2022) – $4,572,769 cap hit
43. WILL 59 Joe Walker(2020) – $900,000 cap hit
44. CB 25 Richard Sherman(2020) – $13,987,500 cap hit
45. CB 41 Emmanuel Moseley(2020) – $675,000 cap hit
46. CB 24 K’Waun Williams(2020) – $3,184,375 cap hit
47. CB 23 Ahkello Witherspoon(2020) – $2,376,393 cap hit
48. CB 32 D.J. Reed Jr.(2021) – $827,843 cap hit
49. CB 35 Tim Harris Jr.(2022) – $649,577 cap hit
50. FS 20 Jimmie Ward(2022) – $3,906,250 cap hit
51. FS 33 Tarvarius Moore(2021) – $946,093 cap hit
52. SS 29 Jaquiski Tartt(2020) – $6.275 million cap hit
53. SS 43 Jared Mayden(2022) – $613,333 cap hit
54. PK 9 Robbie Gould(2022) – $5.1 million cap hit
55. P 6 Mitch Wishnowsky(2022) – $866,018 cap hit
56. LS 86 Kyle Nelson(2022) – $1.045 million cap hit

Practice Squad:

1. QB 5 Broc Rutter
2. RB 35 Salvon Ahmed
3. RB 38 JaMycal Hasty
4. FB 49 Josh Hokit
5. WR 7 Chris Finke
6. TE 83 Chase Harrell
7. TE 88 Daniel Helm
8. LG 76 Ross Reynolds
9. LEO 61 Jonathan Kongbo
10. SAM 47 Jonas Griffith
11. CB 49 DeMarkus Acy
12. SS 36 Marcell Harris

Now as for 2021, I have the team with a commitment of $154,063,736 for 2021, which would leave the team at $60,936,264 in cap room under a $215 million cap, but we know that, it’s not a given the cap will rise, or decrease, it’s purely an unknown, and we won’t know until, frankly next March, but let’s continue.

The projected cap table for my 53-man roster is below, for 2021 that is.

2021 Numbers

Below is the projected cap room table with previous cap limits

Now the salary cap room table with cap limits ranging from $180 million, all the way down to $120 million

Now as you can see, the 49ers salary cap room would range from
$25,936,264 on a $180 million cap, $15,156,264 on a $170 million cap, $5,156,264 on a $160 million cap, ($4,843,736) on a $150 million cap, ($14,843,736) on a $140 million cap, ($24,063,736) on a $130 million cap, and ($34,063,736) on a $120 million cap.

Now, obviously if the salary cap is anywhere below $160 million, the 49ers need to get under the salary cap, a few ways of doing this is, obviously by restructuring contracts, which would be Jimmy Garoppolo, Dee Ford, Kwon Alexander, and Weston Richburg, the teams biggest base salaries for 2021.

If they did restructure those 4 contracts, they’d save $18.42 million(Garoppolo), $11.26 million(Ford), $9.18 million(Alexander), $5.42 million(Richburg), which is a total of $44.28 million in extra cap room created. They could also restructure Arik Armstead, and Jimmie Ward’s contracts, which would free up $4.46 million(Armstead), and $5.86 million(Ward).

Below is what the 49ers salary cap would look like if those restructures would happen.

2021 Numbers

So as you can see, while not the most popular thing to do, the 49ers would need to restructure those contracts to either get under the now lower cap, or to add cap room to retain their free agents, which I’ll now list below.

QB Nick Mullens – RFA Likely gets 1st or 2nd rd tender
QB CJ Beathard – UFA Likely gone, or back on cheap deal, hopefully traded this offseason after cuts
RB Tevin Coleman – UFA Likely replaced with a UDFA or another vet
RB Jerick McKinnon – UFA Could be brought back cheap IMO
RB Jeff Wilson Jr. – RFA Likely not tendered unless the team wants to get a pick for him so 2nd rd tender and trade ala Breida
FB Kyle Juszyzsck – UFA Not going anywhere, Kyle won’t allow him to leave, still young, best FB in the NFL
WR Kendrick Bourne – UFA Should extend now IMO
WR Trent Taylor – UFA Don’t see him back unless cheap
WR Travis Benjamin – UFA May not make the 53, saves $1.045M
TE George Kittle – UFA Not going anywhere
TE Ross Dwelley – RFA Likely not tendered, but signed to 1yr minimum deal
TE Daniel Helm – ERFA If he makes it he won’t be going anywhere, only costs $865K to retain
C Ben Garland – UFA Easy re-signing, knows KS’s system, did well in 2019
C Jake Brendel – RFA Doubt he makes the 53
OG Daniel Brunskill – ERFA Not going anywhere, will only cost $865K to tender
OG Tom Compton – UFA May not make the 2020 team, has $750K GTD, saves $1.95M if cut
OT Trent Williams – UFA Not going anywhere, will be tagged if need be
OT Shon Coleman – UFA Easy re-signing as swing Tackle
OT Leonard Wester – RFA Doubt he makes the 53
DE Ronald Blair III – UFA Easy re-signing as EDGE rusher IMO
DE Kerry Hyder Jr. – UFA Another easy re-signing as a 1yr deal
DT Solomon Thomas – UFA Gone IMO unless he has a breakout year, Kinlaw is the man at 3T
DT Willie Henry Jr. – RFA Likely not on the 53
NT D.J. Jones – UFA Should be back, not like he’s gonna cost $10M A yr, he’s a NT playing less than 30% snaps despite new agent
WLB Joe Walker – UFA Another easy 1yr re-signing
CB Richard Sherman – UFA Not going anywhere, the 49ers won’t let Sherman leave
CB K’Waun Williams – UFA Should be paid a good amount as one of the best Slot CBs, hopefully they bring him back
CB Emmanuel Moseley – ERFA Not going anywhere, will only cost $865K to tender
CB Ahkello Witherspoon – UFA Likely replaced with a vet or draft pick
CB Teez Tabor – RFA Doubt he even makes the 53
CB Dontae Johnson – UFA Likely not on the 53
CB Jason Verrett – UFA Likely not on the 53 unless he has a breakout camp/Preseason
FS Derrick Kindred – RFA Doubt he makes the 53
SS Jaquiski Tartt – UFA Could lose via FA if he wants more than what Ward got, but I think the 49ers bring him back if he has a good year, him and Ward are a good Safety tandem
SS Marcell Harris – RFA May not make the 53, wouldn’t be tendered high if he makes it, would be original round tender

Of those pending 2021 free agents, only 10 starters are free agents, if you include both the Slot WR and Slot CB, 11 if you include the teams #2 back Tevin Coleman.

Some projected APYs(Average Per Year) for their starters who are free agents.

RB Tevin Coleman – $4 million
FB Kyle Juszyzck – $5.25 million
WR Kendrick Bourne – $4 million
TE George Kittle – $14 million
LT Trent Williams – $22 million
NT D.J. Jones – $5 million
CB Richard Sherman – $10 million
CB K’Waun Williams – $7 million
SS Jaquiski Tartt – $9.5 million

I didn’t include Brunskill(RG), or Moseley(CB) because they’re exclusive rights free agents, and would only cost $865,000 on 1-year tenders.

Like I said above, I’d expect the 49ers to tender Nick Mullens, their #2 QB at the 1st or 2nd-round level, after all, Taysom Hill was tendered at the 1st-round level by the New Orleans Saints, and he isn’t nearly the QB Mullens is.

So all in all, despite the fact the cap may go down, the 49ers can still maintain long term flexibility, and keep their team together, plus in 2022 the cap would likely go way back up tp the $200 million or more range.

Now if by chance the cap goes down to the $120 million range, then the team may have to make some tough decisions, but I’d expect most of their starters to be back, with low year 1 cap numbers.

Another thing the 49ers could do to avoid restructuring all these players is redoing Jimmy Garoppolo, and Dee Ford’s contracts this season, which would save $18.312 million(Garoppolo), and $10,238,875(Ford), which I’d suggest the 49ers hang onto, and carryover into 2021 as extra cap room in their back pocket, and that’s a total of $28,550,875 in extra cap room.

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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