Taking a look at the 49ers top 10 contracts, & deciding which are backloaded, vs frontloaded, both cap, & cash wise

Today I want to do something different than the usual look at the 49ers 2022 or 2023 salary cap situation, as I was given an idea to look at the 49ers top 10 salaried contracts and look at what deals were frontloaded vs backloaded.

First off below are the 49ers top 2022 & 2023 cap numbers for those who like that kind of thing, LOL.

Top 20 2022 Cap Numbers(49ers):

1. QB 10 Jimmy Garoppolo(2022)- $26,950,000
2. LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- $14,031,765
3. FS 1 Jimmie Ward(2022)- $12,935,588
4. RT 69 Mike McGlinchey(2022)- $10,880,000
5. DE 97 Nick Bosa(2023)- $10,805,564
6. DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)- $9,576,000
7. DE 56 Samson Ebukam(2022)- $8,250,000
8. MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- $8,134,588
9. QB 5 Trey Lance(2024)- $7,751,195
10. TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- $7,679,765
11. DE 55 Dee Ford(2022)- $6,949,997
12. C 50 Alex Mack(2023)- $6,725,000
13. CB 4 Emmanuel Moseley(2022)- $6,555,529
14. PK 9 Robbie Gould(2022)- $4,890,519
15. WR 19 Deebo Samuel(2022)- $4,890,519
16. DT 99 Javon Kinlaw(2023)- $4,224,191
17. SLB 51 Azeez Al-Shaair(2022)- $3,986,000
18. CB 35 Charvarius Ward(2024)- $3,800,000
19. WR 11 Brandon Aiyuk(2023)- $3,417,641
20. FB 44 Kyle Juszyczk(2025)- $2,958,750

Top 20 2023 Cap Numbers(49ers):

1. LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- $26,270,000
2. DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)- $24,346,000
3. MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- $18,525,000
4. TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- $18,383,000
5. DE 97 Nick Bosa(2023)- $17,869,000
6. CB 35 Charvarius Ward(2024)- $16,405,000
7. QB 5 Trey Lance(2024)- $9,301,434
8. FB 44 Kyle Juszcyzk(2025)- $6,588,750
9. C 50 Alex Mack(2023)- $5,075,000
10. DT 99 Javon Kinlaw(2023)- $4,928,223
11. WR 11 Brandon Aiyuk(2023)- $3,987,248
12. MLB 48 Oren Burks(2023)- $2,773,000
13. WR/KR/PR 3 Ray-Ray McCloud III(2023)- $2,090,000
14. LG 65 Aaron Banks(2024)- $1,929,166
15. SS 30 George Odum(2024)- $1,840,000
16. DE – Drake Jackson(2025)- $1,339,180
17. RB 28 Trey Sermon(2024)- $1,328,982
18. CB 20 Ambry Thomas(2024)- $1,305,232
19. RB – Tyrion Davis-Price(2025)- $1,161,033
20. WR – Danny Gray(2025)- $1,146,569

Ok, so the current top 10 49ers contracts are below.

NOTE: I went with contracts that were 3-years or longer, also contracts that have been renegotiated into a deal worth less per year, and I didn’t include rookie contracts, as those are all slotted.

1. QB 10 Jimmy Garoppolo(2022)- 5-year, $137.5 million, $48.7 million guaranteed, & a $27.5 million average per year.

Analysis: Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal was frontloaded for the most part cash wise, besides the smaller $7 million signing bonus, he also received a $28 million guaranteed roster bonus in the first year, which was 2018, of his 5-year deal, but when we look at his cap hits, they were more even from years 2-5, which is why it makes moving on from Garoppolo much easier, as he doesn’t have any money guaranteed, except if released while hurt, he’d get 7l5 million, but that would offset by up to $7.5 million based on how much his deal with a new team would be, but the 49ers wouldn’t get the money back until 2023.

2. LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- 6-year, $138.06 million, $40.05 million guaranteed, & a $23.01 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers signed Williams to a massive $23.01 million a year deal last offseason, and this deal is heavily backloaded cap wise, & cash wise, as he’s set to earn, from years 3-6, $94.16 million in base salaries alone, along with yearly $750,000 per game roster bonuses, & yearly $100,000 workout bonuses. He did receive a nice $30.1 million signing bonus upfront, but his earnings from 2023-2026 are over 3 times as much as his signing bonus alone.

3. MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- 5-year, $95.225 million, $27.5 million guaranteed, & a $19.045 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers, at the time, made Warner the highest paid true linebacker, wth the $19.045 million a year deal, which was surpassed not long after by Indianapolis Colts’ Darius Leonard, but as for Warner, his deal is heavily backloaded, cap wise, as he’s set to earn $63.525 million in base salaries from 2023-2026, along with yearly $500,000 per game roster bonuses, & yearly $100,000 workout bonuses. As for cash wise, he got a $12.32 million signing bonus, along with a $12.68 million option bonus in 2022, for a total of $25 million, which is less than half of what Warner is set to earn from 2023-2026, base salary wise.

4. DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)– 5-year, $85 million, $34.15 million guaranteed, & a $17 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers, at the time, had to choose between two defensive lineman, either DeForest Buckner, who was traded to the Colts for a 1^st-round pick in 2020, & Armstead, so they, of course, chose Armstead, which looked like a bad idea at the time, until 2021, when Armstead looked like a beast at the 3-Technique spot in the 49ers wide-9 defense, as for his deal, it’s mainly backloaded, with the fact that from 2022-2024, he was set to make $47.45 million in base salaries, but he, along with George Kittle, restructured their deals, helping the 49ers create the much needed cap room to sign the free agents they signed this offseason, but in a way, he still has the deal backloaded, as he did get a $10.424 million signing bonus, which still makes his 2022-2024 earnings at $47.45 million in cash.

5. TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- 5-year, $75 million, $30 million guaranteed, and a $15 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers made Kittle the highest paid TE in 2020 with a 5-year, $75 million deal, and this one is by far heavily backloaded cap wise, as he’s set to earn $39.45 million in base salaries from 2023-2025, and he, like Arik Armstead, restructured his deal, which saw him get a $10.415 million signing bonus, so he is set to earn a total of $49.865 million from 2022-2025. As for his initial signing bonus, he received a $18 million signing bonus in 2020, & then a smaller $2.25 million option bonus in 2021, for a total of $20.25 million in upfront money for the first 2-years, along with his base salaries, which were $2.133 million, & $1.25 million, for a total of $53.248 in compensation over the first 2-years, so, for cap wise, I’d say this deal was heavily backloaded, due to the 2022-2025 cap numbers, and cash wise, frontloaded, with that massive $53.248 million.

6. CB 35 Charvarius Ward(2024)- 3-year, $40.5 million, $18.06 million guaranteed, & a $13.5 million average.

Analysis: The 49ers signed Ward this offseason to a 3-year deal, worth $13.5 million a year, which includes 2 void years for cap purposes, they gave him a $12.025 million signing bonus, so this one is tough to determine definitively what it is, backloaded, or frontloaded, because do you factor in the 2 void years or not? I don’t know whether to, but if we’re going based off of year to year, it’s backloaded, as in 2023-2024, he’s set to earn $26.12 million in base salaries, with $16.405 million, & $15.405 million cap numbers, for 2023, & 2023, respectively, while his 2022 cap number is just $3.8 million, and he’s set to earn $13.06 million in cash this season, plus he has yearly $340,000 per game roster bonuses, and yearly $100,000 workout bonuses.

7. FS 1 Jimmie Ward(2022)- 3-year, $28.5 million, $13 million guaranteed, & a $9.5 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers gave Ward a 3-year deal, averaging $9.5 million a year, another deal that’s really hard to judge whether or not it’s backloaded vs frontloaded. So again, going based off of year to year, he earned $9.5 million in year 1, while in year 2, he earned $8.4 million in cash, between a $1.075 million base salary, & a $7.325 million signing bonus as he restructured his contract to help the 49ers last year. This season, he’s set to earn $8.9 million in the form of his base salary, along with a $500,000 per game roster bonus, and a $100,000 workout bonus, for a total of $9.5 million, so honestly, this deal was evenly distributed in my opinion.

8. FB 44 Kyle Juszyczk(2025)- 5-year, $27 million, $9.6 million guaranteed, & a $5,.4 million average per year.

Analysis: The 49ers retained Juice on a 5-year deal averaging $5.4 million a year, and this isn’t too hard to figure out, it’s backloaded for the most part, as he’s set to earn $16.25 million in base salaries from 2023-2025, while he only will have earned $2.195 million over the first 2-years of the deal, he did get a nice $4 million signing bonus, and he received an $2.155 million option bonus this year, which locks the 49ers into his 2023-2025 contract years.

9. C 50 Alex Mack(2023)- 3-year, $14.85 million, $5.1 million guaranteed, & a $4.95 million average per year.

Analysis: Another 3-year deal, the 49ers gave Mack a deal averaging $4.95 million a year, with him getting a $3.675 million signing bonus, and this one, again, isn’t the easiest to determine, but, in my eyes, this deal is really even, he did have a low first year cap number of $3.05 million, just like most of the 49ers longer contracts given out, but, he’s set to earn $5 million in 2022, and $3.35 million in 2023, that’s of course if he comes back.

10. SS 30 George Odum(2024)- 3-year, $5.7 million, $3.035 million guaranteed, & a $1.9 million average per year.

Analysis: Ok, this isn’t the 10^th contract I thought would be on this list, but as I stated, no one with fewer than a 3-year deal, so no Emmanuel Moseley, or Samson Ebukam, or a player on a rookie contract were going to be put on this list, so no Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, Javon Kinlaw, Brandon Aiyuk, plus I omitted players who renegotiated their deals, like Dee Ford, & Robbie Gould, let’s go for it. Odum’s deal is a 3-year deal, worth $1.9 million a year, along with 2 void years for cap purposes, and again, this one is even in my opinion, he’s set to earn $3.035 million in 2022, $1.44 million in 2023, & $1.225 million in 2024 between his base salaries, & $100,000 workout bonuses.

So, there you have it, the 49ers top 10, kind of, contract, with a length of 3-years or longer.

As always, thanks for reading, leave a comment, or follow me on Twitter @49erscap.

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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