So, the 49ers have a few players who have either LTBE, which is likely to be earned, or NLTBE, which is not likely to be earned, incentives in several of their players contracts, and I’m here to give an update on what will happen, what’s needed to achieve these, and more.
Starting with the teams’ LTBE incentives in players contracts that count against the 2024 salary cap.
WR Deebo Samuel Sr. – $150,000, this if for Deebo rushing for 3 or more touchdowns.
C Jake Brendel – $500,000, this is for an undisclosed percentage of offensive snaps.
RT Colton McKivitz – $620,000, this is for an undisclosed percentage of offensive snaps.
CB Charvarius Ward – $500,000, this is divided into $250,000 for making last season’s Pro Bowl, and $250,000 for being named an All-Pro last season.
Of these incentives, it’s highly unlikely Ward earns that $500,000, as he did miss a number of games, due to the death of his 1-year old daughter, while Samuel only has 1 rushing touchdown, so the 49ers, as of now would get back the $150,000, for a total of $650,000 added to their pending
As for Brendel, & McKivitz, I don’t know the exact percentages needed to reach/achieve these, but as of week 15, Brendel has played in 99.54% of the teams’ offensive snaps, while McKivitz has played in 99.66% of the teams’ offensive snaps, so they should earn those, with them also being added to their 2025 salary cap numbers, but the 49ers did extend McKivitz, so it’s possible that when extended, those incentives were taken out, or altered.
When it comes to the 49ers 2025 adjusted salary cap. it will be comprised of the base 2025 salary cap, their carryover, & adjustments/credits, which is projected to be in the $280 million range for the base cap, but that’s just a projection, while right now carryover would be $51,092,831, & adjustments/credits as of now would be $4,057,586, but the carryover projection will go down over the next 3 weeks, likely in the $50 million range, while the team can still earn more adjustments/credits, but if Brendel & McKivitz’s LTBEs are earned, they’ll count against the 2025 salary cap.
Next, let’s look at what players have incentives that are considered NLTBE, and what the player can earn in total.
WR Deebo Samuel Sr.
He can get $650,000 for 380 or more rushing yards
He can also get $150,000 for 3 or more rushing touchdowns.
In total he can earn a max of $650,000 in incentives, with $150,000 currently counting against the 2024 salary cap.
DE Leonard Floyd
He can earn as much as $2 million, this is broken down as follows.
$500,000 for having 8 or more sacks, plus team achievements, in which the team must improve on either total sacks or average net rushing yards allowed per play.
$1 million for having 10 or more sacks, plus team achievements, in which the team must improve on either total sacks or average net rushing yards allowed per play.
$2 million for having 12 or more sacks.
WLB Dre Greenlaw
He can earn $500,000 if he’s named to the Pro Bowl.
SS George Odum
He has an undisclosed amount for various triggers, but we do know that $250,000 would be for him being named to the 1st or 2nd Team All-Pro.
P Mitch Wishnowsky
He can earn $450,000 for various different triggers, as described below.
$250,000 for making the Pro Bowl on the original ballot
$100,000 for net punting.
$100,000 for punt percentage inside the 20-yard line.
All in all, he can earn $450,000.
As of now, there’s no way Greenlaw makes the Pro Bowl this year, while Wishnowsky most likely won’t achieve any of his potential $450,000 in incentives, as he’s been on injured reserve for the past 4 games, and hasn’t looked as good as he has in past years.
There’s a possibility that Odum makes either the 1st or 2nd team All-Pro, but he’s currently on injured reserve, & it’s unclear how severe his injury is, while Samuel needs to get at least 380 rushing yards to achieve the $650,000, but as of week 15, he only has 95 rushing yards, and only has 3 games left to try & earn those, which seems very unlikely.
The one player who could achieve his incentives is Floyd, who leads the team in sacks with 8.5, but there’s a catch to his incentives, they are tied to team achievements, but not wins, rather total amount of the teams’ sacks, or if the 49ers have a better average net yard per rush, meaning the team needs to improve from 2023 to 2024.
As of now, the 49ers have a total of 35 sacks, while they had 48 sacks last year, as for net rush yards allowed, they are allowing 4.3 yards per rush, while they only allowed 4.1 yards per rush last year, so as of now, Floyd wouldn’t earn his $500,000 of a possible $2 million in NLTBEs.
So basically, for Floyd to earn any of his $2 million he needs to have the defense improve in either total team sacks, or net average yard allowed per rush.
With that said, I thank you for reading, and follow me on X/Twitter @49erscap, & on Blue Sky App @49erscap.bsky.social.
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