There are a lot of 49ers fans out there who want the team to go all in, and restructure every contract possible to bring in big name free agents, but I’m here to explain why that’s a bad idea, especially for the 49ers 2024 salary cap.
If the 49ers wanted to restructure the following 5 players, they could free up the following.
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
That’s $52.876 million with max savings, or $49,037,916 for minimum savings, but it has a ripple effect, so for this article I’m going with the max savings, as the 49ers are known for adding void years into contracts to help with salary cap reasons.
Right now the 49ers have 27 players signed for 2024, not including wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, and defensive end Nick Bosa, with $52,097,379 in projected cap room on a $256 million salary cap, but with just 27 players, and with 51 players signed, they’d have a max of $33,017,379, but by restructuring the 5 players I mentioned, the team would lose $13.219 million in cap room, putting their cap room down to just $38,878,379 with just 27 players signed, or a max of $19,798,379 with 51 players signed.
Below is what the 49ers 2024 salary cap table would look like with the restructures.
| Jsy # | Name | Pos. | Signed | Cap Number | Prorated | Roster | Workout | LTBE | Base |
| 71 | Williams, Trent | LT | 2026 | $31,656,777 | $10,756,777 | $750,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $20,050,000 |
| 91 | Armstead, Arik | DT/DE | 2024 | $28,811,000 | $10,551,000 | $750,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $17,410,000 |
| 19 | Samuel, Deebo | WR/RB | 2025 | $28,572,000 | $6,650,000 | $750,000 | $200,000 | $0 | $20,972,000 |
| 54 | Warner, Fred | MLB | 2026 | $24,469,000 | $8,569,000 | $500,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $15,300,000 |
| 85 | Kittle, George | TE | 2025 | $21,956,575 | $7,956,575 | $500,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $13,400,000 |
| 7 | Ward, Charvarius | CB | 2024 | $15,405,000 | $2,405,000 | $340,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $12,560,000 |
| 23 | McCaffrey, Christian | RB/WR | 2025 | $14,144,000 | $2,144,000 | $0 | $200,000 | $0 | $11,800,000 |
| 5 | Lance, Trey | QB | 2024 | $10,851,673 | $5,540,956 | $4,255,717 | $0 | $0 | $1,055,000 |
| 57 | Greenlaw, Dre | WLB/SLB | 2024 | $9,632,382 | $932,382 | $500,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $8,100,000 |
| 44 | Juszczyk, Kyle | FB | 2025 | $7,588,750 | $1,338,750 | $400,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $5,750,000 |
| 18 | Wishnowsky, Mitch | P | 2026 | $2,825,000 | $550,000 | $0 | $50,000 | $0 | $2,225,000 |
| 65 | Banks, Aaron | LG/RG | 2024 | $2,250,694 | $626,110 | $0 | $50,000 | $0 | $1,574,584 |
| 30 | Odum, George | SS/FS | 2024 | $1,625,000 | $400,000 | $0 | $100,000 | $0 | $1,125,000 |
| 95 | Jackson, Drake | LEO/DT | 2025 | $1,590,561 | $349,889 | $0 | $80,000 | $0 | $1,160,672 |
| 20 | Thomas, Ambry | CB | 2024 | $1,425,154 | $210,154 | $0 | $30,000 | $0 | $1,185,000 |
| 32 | Davis-Price, Tyrion | RB | 2025 | $1,393,240 | $223,826 | $0 | $50,000 | $0 | $1,119,414 |
| 6 | Gray, Danny | WR | 2025 | $1,375,883 | $212,255 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,163,628 |
| 74 | Burford, Spencer | RG/RT/LT/LG | 2025 | $1,153,014 | $168,014 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| 76 | Moore, Jaylon | RT/RG/LT/LG | 2024 | $1,135,759 | $80,759 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,055,000 |
| 38 | Lenoir, Deommodore | CB | 2024 | $1,126,217 | $71,217 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,055,000 |
| 29 | Hufanga, Talanoa | SS/FS/SLB | 2024 | $1,115,038 | $60,038 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,055,000 |
| 25 | Mitchell, Elijah | RB | 2024 | $1,100,893 | $45,893 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,055,000 |
| 26 | Womack III, Samuel | CB | 2025 | $1,055,831 | $70,831 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| 63 | Zakelj, Nick | LG/LT/C/RG | 2025 | $1,032,590 | $47,590 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| 93 | Davis, Kalia | NT | 2025 | $1,018,003 | $33,003 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| 13 | Purdy, Brock | QB | 2025 | $1,004,253 | $19,253 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| 24 | Mason, Jordan | RB | 2024 | $988,334 | $3,334 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $985,000 |
| Dead Money | Amount |
| Oren Burks | $819,000 |
| TOTAL | $819,000 |
| Total | $216,302,621 |
| Dead | $819,000 |
| Total and Dead | $217,121,621 |
| 2024 Cap | $256,000,000 |
| Cap Space | $38,878,379 |
| Effective Cap Room | $19,798,379 |
| Players under contract | 27 Players |
Again, this doesn’t include a Nick Bosa extension, or Brandon Aiyuk’s 5th-year option, so if we include Aiyuk’s 5th-year option number of $14.124 million, the salary cap room goes down to $24,754,379 with 28 players signed, or a max of $6,469,379 with 51 players signed, again without a Nick Bosa extension, or any 2023, & 2024 draft picks, or any free agents re-signed or added on multi-year deals.
So, as you can see, the 49ers won’t restructure all 5 players, not because they’re not all in, or don’t want to win, but because they want to keep their salary cap healthy, and not turn into the Saints, who restructure every contract, and end up being $60 million to $100 million over the salary cap.
So, I hope people will understand why the 49ers aren’t going to restructure more than 2-3 of these players, and not all 5, it’s just not healthy salary cap wise.
With that said, I thank you for reading, and follow me on Twitter @49erscap for more salary cap information, and tidbits.
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