An updated look at the 49ers 2023 salary cap situation, post Christian McCaffrey trade

With the 49ers making a blockbuster trade Thursday night to get Christian McCaffrey, I think it’s time to look at 2023 again.

The 49ers now have 33 players signed for 2023, accounting for $199,386,229, plus $17,085,988 in dead money, for a total cap commitment of $216,472,217, leaving them $8,527,783 under a projected $225 million cap, but with 51 players signed, the 49ers would be $4,972,217 over that $225 million cap.

Below are the 33 players, and their current cap numbers for 2023.

1. LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- $27,227,424
2. DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)- $24,213,647
3. MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- $18,525,000
4. TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- $18,033,751
5. DE 97 Nick Bosa(2023)- $17,869,000
6. CB 7 Charvarius Ward(2024)- $16,405,000
7. RB 23 Christian McCaffrey(2025)- $12,000,000
8. QB 5 Trey Lance(2024)- $9,301,434
9. WR 19 Deebo Samuel(2025)- $8,860,000
10. FB 44 Kyle Juszczyk(2025)- $6,588,750
11. WLB 57 Dre Greenlaw(2024)- $5,707,382
12. DT 99 Javon Kinlaw(2023)- $4,928,223
13. WR 11 Brandon Aiyuk(2023)- $3,987,248
14. MLB 48 Oren Burks(2023)- $2,773,000
15. WR/KR/PR 3 Ray-Ray McCloud III(2023)- $2,090,000
16. LG 65 Aaron Banks(2024)- $1,929,166
17. SS 30 George Odum(2024)- $1,840,000
18. P 18 Mitch Wishnowsky(2026)- $1,700,000
19. DE 95 Drake Jackson(2025)- $1,339,180
20. CB 20 Ambry Thomas(2024)- $1,305,232
21. RB 32 Tyrion Davis-Price(2025)- $1,161,033
22. WR 6 Danny Gray(2025)- $1,146,569
23. TE 89 Charlie Woerner(2023)- $1,055,258
24. RG 74 Spencer Burford(2025)- $1,038,014
25. RT 76 Jaylon Moore(2024)- $1,020,759
26. CB 38 Deommodore Lenoir(2024)- $1,011,217
27. SS 29 Talanoa Hufanga(2024)- $1,000,038
28. RB 25 Elijah Mitchell(2024)- $985,893
29. CB 26 Samuel Womack III(2025)- $940,831
30. LG 63 Nick Zakelj(2025)- $917,590
31. NT 93 Kalia Davis(2025)- $903,003
32. QB 13 Brock Purdy(2025)- $889,253
33. RB 24 Jordan Mason(2024)- $873,333

Now let’s look at the 49ers current pending free agents for the 2023 offseason.

Now, let’s look at the teams’ pending free agents.

UFA:

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
RB Tevin Coleman
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
DE Kemoko Turay
DT Akeem Spence
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
RG Blake Hance
WLB Curtis Robinson

The 49ers would likely tender all 6 of their RFAs & ERFAs, which would be $2.629 million for Givens, & Flannigan-Fowles, and $2.745 million for McKivitz, while Jennings, Hance, & Robinson would get the $940,000 tender as ERFAs.

That would be a total of $10.823 million, which would put the 49ers $2,295,217 over the $225 million salary cap, but that’s with 39 players signed, with 51 signed, they’d be $11,295,217 over the cap, but this doesn’t include potential cap credits, which I went over yesterday, which would be a total of $3,716,466, which would put the team the $1,421,249 under with 39 players signed, and $7,578,751 over with 51 players signed.

Now, the 49ers will need to make cap room, with the top candidates below, with savings.

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

But don’t worry, the 49ers will have cap room to try & re-sign some of the likes of running backs Jeff Wilson Jr., & Tevin Coleman, center Jake Brendel, right guard Daniel Brunskill, defensive ends Samson Ebukam, & Charles Omenihu, nose tackle Hassan Ridgeway, strongside linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, & free safeties Jimmie Ward, and Tashaun Gipson Sr.

As always, thank you for reading, you can follow me on twitter @49erscap for more salary cap information & tidbits.

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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