Explaining how the 49ers can keep their core together long term

There’s been some back & forth online about whether the 49ers are in trouble when it comes to 2024 & their salary cap, but I’m here to show how the 49ers can indeed keep their core together long term.

First off, I recently did my latest 53-man roster projection, and the 49ers would be just $1,572,867 under their 2023 adjusted salary, this is including a Trey Lance trade, which looks likely to happen at some point, whether this year, or next year, which would only save $940,000 for 2023, and just over $5.31 million in 2024.

Let’s take a look at the 49ers 2024 salary cap situation, as of now, they have 49 players signed, with a combined total committed salaries of $267,154,319, plus $1,642,336 in dead money, putting them $12,796,655 over a $256 million salary cap, but that’s with just 49 players signed, and with 51 signed they’d be $14,386,655 over, but that’s before the likely base salary escalations for Elijah Mitchell, Aaron Banks, Deommodore Lenoir, & Talanoa Hufanga, which would be an extra $9,533,416, putting the 49ers $22,330,071 over with 49 players signed, or $23,920,071 with 51 players signed.

Below are the 49 players signed, with their cap number.

1. WR 19 Deebo Samuel(2025)- $28,572,000
2. LT 71 Trent Williams(2026)- $28,009,777
3. DT 91 Arik Armstead(2024)- $25,628,824
4. MLB 54 Fred Warner(2026)- $24,469,000
5. TE 85 George Kittle(2025)- $19,842,575
6. CB 7 Charvarius Ward(2024)- $17,901,000
7. NT 98 Javon Hargrave(2026)- $15,475,000
8. RB 23 Christian McCaffrey(2025)- $14,144,000
9. WR 11 Brandon Aiyuk(2024)- $14,124,000
10. QB 5 Trey Lance(2024)- $10,851,673
11. WLB 57 Dre Greenlaw(2024)- $9,632,382
12. FB 44 Kyle Juszczyk(2025)- $7,588,750
13. C 64 Jake Brendel(2026)- $4,192,000
14. CB 26 Isaiah Oliver(2024)- $3,866,000
15. P 18 Mitch Wishnowsky(2026)- $2,825,000
16. RT 68 Colton McKivitz(2024)- $2,536,000
17. LG 65 Aaron Banks(2024)- $2,250,694 ($3,800,110 with base escalation)
18. SS 30 George Odum(2024)- $1,625,000
19. DE 95 Drake Jackson(2025)- $1,590,561
20. CB 20 Ambry Thomas(2024)- $1,425,154
21. RB 32 Tyrion Davis-Price(2025)- $1,393,240
22. WR 6 Danny Gray(2025)- $1,375,883
23. LS 46 Taybor Pepper(2025)- $1,300,000
24. FS 27 Ji’Ayir Brown(2026)- $1,243,108
25. PK 4 Jake Moody(2026)- $1,219,756
26. TE 81 Cameron Latu(2026)- $1,219,756
27. RG 74 Spencer Burford(2025)- $1,153,014
28. RT 76 Jaylon Moore(2024)- $1,135,759
29. CB 2 Deommodore Lenoir(2024)- $1,126,217 ($3,195,217 with base escalation)
30. SS 29 Talanoa Hufanga(2024)- $1,115,038 ($4,961,038 with base escalation)
31. RB 25 Elijah Mitchell(2024)- $1,100,893 ($3,169,893 with base escalation)
32. CB 0 Samuel Womack III(2025)- $1,055,831
33. LG 63 Nick Zakelj(2025)- $1,032,590
34. NT 93 Kalia Davis(2025)- $1,018,003
35. QB 13 Brock Purdy(2025)- $1,004,253
36. CB 28 Darrell Luter Jr.(2026)- $997,555
37. RB 24 Jordan Mason(2024)- $988,334
38. DE 55 Robert Beal Jr.(2026)- $979,510
39. SLB 53 Dee Winters(2026)- $950,110
40. TE 9 Brayden Willis(2026)- $936,039
41. WR 10 Ronnie Bell(2026)- $935,482
42. SLB 50 Jalen Graham(2026)- $935,482
43. CB 22 D’Shawn Jamison(2025)- $921,666
44. LT 60 Ilm Manning(2025)- $920,000
45. RT 66 Joey Fisher(2025)- $920,000
46. DE 69 Spencer Waege(2025)- $918,333
47. FB 33Jack Colletto(2025)- $918,333
48. C 61 Corey Luciano(2025)- $916,666
49. WR 2 Isaiah Winstead(2025)- $915,333

Now, a Nick Bosa deal, with a $12 million salary cap number for 2024, then the 49ers would be as high as $33,535,071 over the 2024 salary cap, with 50 players then signed, but that’s not how it will work out, as I estimate the team to have between 40-44 players signed for 2024 when the 2023 season begins.

Now the 49ers will have several options to create cap space, with those below.

RB Christian McCaffrey – $8,472,000 (Restructure)

FB Kyle Juszcyzk – $3,632,000 (Restructure)

WR Deebo Samuel – $15,877,600 (Restructure)

TE George Kittle – $9,752,000 (Restructure)

LT Trent Williams – $15,072,000 (Restructure)

DT Arik Armstead – $12,960,000 (Extension or Restructure)

NT Javon Hargrave – $6,140,000 (Restructure)

MLB Fred Warner – $11,340,000 (Restructure)

WLB Dre Greenlaw – $5,580,000 (Extension or Restructure)

CB Charvarius Ward – $9,148,000 (Extension or Restructure)

If the 49ers extend Armstead, Greenlaw, & Ward before the beginning of the new league year, they’d save $27.688 million, while restructuring Deebo Samuel saves $15,877,600, clearing $43,565,600 in 2024 salary cap room, but let’s go further, as all 3 players that I would extend have their contracts void after 2024, with their pending dead money below.

Charvarius Ward – $12.298 million

Arik Armstead – $6.712 million

Dre Greenlaw – $1,864,766

Despite those big numbers, I can see Armstead, & Ward’s 2025 salary cap numbers being in those ranges, or lower, and Greenlaw would be much higher, but they could get all 3 players’ salary cap numbers to equal what those 3 would cost in dead money, which is $20,874,766.

So, the 49ers could, theoretically in 2025, the 49ers would be in a great spot salary cap wise, with the following all locked up for 2025 or beyond, quarterback Brock Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey, fullback Kyle Juszcyzk, wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Danny Gray, & Ronnie Bell, tight ends George Kittle, Cameron Latu, & Bryaden Willis, center Jake Brendel, right guard Spencer Burford, left tackle Trent Williams, defensive ends Nick Bosa, Drake Jackson, & Robert Beal Jr., defensive tackle Arik Armstead, nose tackles Javon Hargrave, & Kalia Davis, weakside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, middle linebackers Fred Warner, & Jalen Graham, stronside linebacker Dee Winters, cornerbacks Charvarius Ward, Samuel Womack III, & Darrell Luter Jr., free safety Ji’Ayir Brown, place kicker Jake Moody, punter Mitch Wishnowsky, & long snapper Taybor Pepper.

The team would also likely extend the likes of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, left guard Aaron Banks, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, & strong safety Talanoa Hufanga in 2024, which would still leave the team with a good amount of cap room to extend Brock Purdy, & look into extensions for McCaffrey, Deebo, Juice, & Kittle, which would save the team plenty of cap room to go into free agency, and replace any players that they may not bring back.

The salary cap is expected to go up by $20 million or more a year starting next season, it should hit $300 million by 2026, when the 49ers only have 14 players currently signed thru 2026.

The 49ers salary cap, on paper may not look great to some, but to me, it looks just fine, so don’t worry about it, enjoy the season, and we’ll revisit this next year.

Thanks for reading, and 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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