Well,
the 49ers have done it. They defeated
the Green Bay Packers (okay they pulverized them) on Sunday to earn their seventh
trip to the Super Bowl to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the quest for the
elusive sixth title. While I do plan to talk
about the game, I want to first discuss the salary cap space
along with the impending free agents that the 49ers will have after the
conclusion of the Super Bowl and if they should or should not keep them. To save time on the latter, I will only be
looking the players I saw as key pieces to the success the 49ers had this
season. In order to do this, I need to
first talk about the salary cap space and the dilemmas surrounding it in this article
and follow up with an article on the impending unrestricted free agents.
Let’s
set up the salary cap scene now, shall we?
According
to spotrac.com, the 49ers are currently expected to have a little over $16
million in salary cap space for the 2020-2021 season. Some fans will point out that cutting RB Jerick
McKinnon, WR Marquise Goodwin, and RB Telvin Coleman will add approximately an additional
$18.4 million to the salary cap. Or at the very least, the 49ers could ask any of
the three aforementioned players to take a pay cut in order to remain with the
team. So problem solved, right?
Not
so fast.
One
issue with that thinking is there is no guarantee that the 49ers do cut any one
of those players or even ask them to take a pay cut. Is either scenario possible? Yes, but how many of us expected the team to
trade or cut Armstead or Ward before the 2018 and 2019 seasons? How well would that have worked out? Gone would have been the breakout season from
Armstead and the improvement of the secondary when Ward assumed the started FS
role, two key components which helped the 49ers become the last NFC team
standing.
But
let’s say the 49ers do cut McKinnon, Goodwin, and Coleman. Well…
Another
problem is the 49ers need to get contract extensions done with DT/DE DeForest Buckner
and TE George Kittle. Why is this a problem? The stats Buckner has produced during his career
so far fall right around the stats of the two highest paid 4-3 DTs in the
league in Fletcher Cox and Grady Jarrett.
One could argue Buckner’s stats fall closer to Jarrett’s, but it is a
fair moot argument since Cox and Jarrett are both averaging at $17 million a
year, with just $100,000 more being paid to Cox. Meanwhile, Kittle has firmly established his
self as one of the best, if not the best) TEs in the game today, so he should
be paid like one. Therefore, expect
Kittle’s annual salary to be north of $10 million since Jimmy Graham currently
has the highest average at $10 million per year.
See
how quickly that additional $18.4 million disappears? And this does not even touch on the ERFAs
(exclusive rights free agents), RFAs (restricted free agents), and the incoming
rookies from the 2020 draft class which the team will need to address.
Simply
put, the 49ers will face some tough decisions on what UFAs they will be able to
keep, and I will make a prediction on the ones I see as the important pieces to
the team’s success this season in my next article. Please look forward to it!
SOURCES
Good info, well-written piece.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
M in Tokyo
Nice work dude.....I'm guessing we let armstead walk
ReplyDelete