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The 49ers and their front office will be in uncharted waters next offseason. They’ll have a number of key free agents, and too many good players on the roster and in free agency to pay them all. Richard Sherman is well aware of this reality and wasn’t shy about stating it in a Thursday video conference with reporters.
Adding up the dollars and cents against a salary cap that could either stagnate or dip means some players San Francisco might like to retain will sign elsewhere for more money. That’s the reality of a league with a hard salary cap.
Sherman put two and two together and determined his value will probably exceed what the 49ers will be able to pay once all the dust settles with some long-term extensions they’re due to hand out.
“If there’s some miracle that happens, sure, there’s an opening” Sherman said about a return to the 49ers per the San Francisco Chronicle. “But there’s 40 free agents and they’ll probably have $40 million or less in cap (space0. And they’ve got to bring back Trent (Williams), who costs over $20 million. And they have to pay Fred, who costs $18 million-plus a year. So anybody who knows the situation understands that.”
Williams is set to hit free agency and earn a contract at the top of the tackle market. Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari is the highest-paid left tackle by average annual value at $23 million per season. It stands to reason Williams will eclipse that.
Warner has become one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL and he’s eligible for his first extension this offseason. Seattle’s Bobby Wagner is setting the market there with an $18 million AAV.
Sherman, 32, is still playing at a high level and earned a Second-Team All-Pro nod in 2019. He missed nine games through the middle portion of this season to deal with a calf injury, but he’ll still be coveted enough in free agency that he could get priced out of what the 49ers are willing to pay a corner going into his mid 30s.
The impact Sherman had on San Francisco’s turnaround since he arrived in 2018 can’t be understated, but it sounds like it’s nearing the point where both sides will have to move on.