The San Francisco 49ers are staring down a tough offseason after a brutal 25-22 Super Bowl loss in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs, a fact only made worse with the salary cap issues the team must negotiate.
Albert Breer of MMBQ provided some insight into the matter, calling the team's current situation "impossible" given the top-heavy cap ledger for 2024.
"The eight aforementioned players combine for about $198 million in cap charges next year. Add on Brandon Aiyuk's fully guaranteed fifth-year option and that jumps to about $212 million. The cap next year is expected to land between $240 million and $245 million, which means the 49ers would have to fill the other 44 spots on their roster for between $28 million and $33 million, which would be impossible."
As Breer noted, the 49ers' 2023 salary cap situation proved palatable even though the team had eight players earning contracts with an average annual value of $15 million per year.
As he wrote, no player at a higher cap hit than left tackle Trent Williams ($12.58 million). Only two other players (defensive lineman Arik Armstead, linebacker Nick Bosa) had cap hits of $10 million or more.
That will change dramatically in 2024. Per Over the Cap, 10 players have cap hits of $14.1 million or more, and five are north of $20 million. Simply put, the 49ers have some big decisions to make.
Breer provided more insight on the issue.
"Of course, they could do a bunch of restructures and kick the can down the road again," Breer wrote.
"The problem with that is nine of their cap figures for 2025 add up to more than $194 million, and two of those are dummy years to bury cap charges on high-end contracts."
It helps, of course, to have a quarterback on a cost-effective rookie deal in Brock Purdy, who still has two more years left on his contract. But general manager John Lynch still needs to figure out how to fill out his roster for 2024 with the cap constraints in mind as the 49ers look to rebound from their second Super Bowl loss in five years.
