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The reality of the 2021 cap crunch finally began to hit teams with the conclusion of training camp. Teams like the 49ers, who were sat comfortably above $10 million in cap space, saw it shrink into the low single digits following roster cuts, injury moves and bonuses.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the 49ers have created some breathing room for themselves by converting $7.8 million of his contract, which was previously mostly-guaranteed base salary (and likely his roster bonus too), into a bonus. The move nets San Francisco a reported roughly $5.85 million in cap space and puts them at about $7.3 million in cap space.
The two other clear options the 49ers had were to restructure or guarantee additional base salary to Arik Armstead’s contract — which could have created upwards of $5.6 million depending on the bonus money involved — or extend Laken Tomlinson and lessen his cap burden for this season by roughly $3.7 million. The Ward option was the most productive and his deal is shorter than Armstead’s.
49ers general manager John Lynch will likely address the move when he joins the Murph and Mac Show on KNBR at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Listen here.
