Tag: 49ers cap space

Trey Lance will cost 49ers more than Brock Purdy in 2024

Lol Trey Lance is going to cost the #49ers about the same against the cap this year as their entire QB room combined.

Everything about the Trey Lance era in San Francisco is strange. From the discourse and reporting around which quarterback the team was targeting in the 2021 draft, to his tenure with the team, to his eventual trade just ahead of the 2023 season – Lance’s third with the team. All the while Lance had to battle a veteran quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) who was on his way out the door for both of Lance’s first two seasons, only for Lance to have his spot taken by the final pick in the 2022 draft. It turns out we’re not quite done with the Lance oddities just yet.

Because of the nature of rookie contracts, when the 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick during the 2023 preseason, they had to eat some of the money left on his deal.

The 49ers will carry a $5,540,956 dead cap hit from Lance, which means the 2021 No. 3 overall pick and current backup QB for the Dallas Cowboys, will cost San Francisco more against the cap than their starting quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy in the third year of his four-year rookie contract will count for $1,004,253 against the cap. That makes Lance $4,536,703 more expensive for San Francisco than their starting quarterback for this season.

If we want to go a step further, Lance’s $5,540,956 cap hit for the 49ers will cost the team about as much as their entire QB room. Purdy, Brandon Allen, Joshua Dobbs and Tanner Mordecai are slated to cost $5,597,586 against the cap – just $56,630 more than Lance.

Ultimately that $4.5ish million is a drop in the bucket that hasn’t had any real impact on the 49ers’ offseason. And once Purdy is getting paid at or near the top of the market by the time he signs an extension, presumably next offseason, the Lance deal will be entirely off the books for San Francisco.

Alas, the Lance era was odd and this is one last small reminder of his tenure before the page turns for good.

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49ers have plenty of cap space to work with after June 1

The 49ers suddenly have a boatload of cap space. So what do they do with it?

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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49ers should be hoping for highest possible salary cap in 2024

The #49ers could get some offseason assistance from a higher-than-projected salary cap.

The 49ers aren’t in salary cap hell thanks to some savvy contract gymnastics and a quarterback room that costs something just north of minimum wage, but a higher-than-projected cap number for 2024 would be extremely helpful for them.

Over the Cap projects the 2024 salary cap to be $242 million. By that number the 49ers are $12,375,835 over the cap, but they’ll have more than $35 million rolling over from restructures in 2023 that should give them a little bit of wiggle room under the cap. A couple of other contract maneuvers could put them far enough under the cap to be real players in free agency.

That’s all true with a $242 million cap, but multiple reports from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio indicate the number could be closer to $243 million, and perhaps as high as $250 million.

Every dollar counts in a hard-capped league, and the 49ers are going to be living on the edge of that cap for the foreseeable future with most of their big contracts restructured to kick the money can down the road. They’ve likely been operating around that $242 million number. If it gets up to or near $250 million, it could mean a more comfortable and aggressive offseason for the 49ers instead of one where they’re just trying to ensure they’re under the cap.

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