The 49ers went from right up against the salary cap to well under it thanks to the clearance of Arik Armstead’s deal, which was given a post-June 1 designation when they released him.
San Francisco is now sitting with $25,245,331 in cap space according to Over the Cap.
There are a handful of ways this can matter.
First, it gives them additional headroom to add a free agent or two as the offseason progresses. They weren’t likely to pay anyone at this part of the year a massive sum anyway, but the extra room helps.
This also allows them some added flexibility with Brandon Aiyuk’s extension. They’ll likely trim some of the money from his $14 million cap hit this year by pushing some into the future, but it’s less of a necessity now and an extension won’t add money to his cap hit.
There’s also the Christian McCaffrey aspect of this. He may be looking for a new contract that adds some money after he won Offensive Player of the Year last season. The 49ers could now tack on more money this year, although the more likely scenario is that his deal will guarantee more money in the future.
Perhaps most importantly for the 49ers though is that the cap space from this year will roll over into the 2025 offseason. San Francisco, per OTC, is about $41 million over the projected $260 million 2025 salary cap. Having space to roll over will be helpful in giving the club additional room to maneuver next year.
What the added space won’t do is facilitate an extension for Aiyuk. It’s important to note that their cap space in 2024 is unlikely to be adversely impacted by that contract. Any delay at this point is due to ongoing negotiations and not the 49ers’ 2024 cap space.
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