San Francisco 49ers: Possible Cap Casualties in 2016

The San Francisco 49ers have a large amount of cap space in advance of the 2016 season. But the team could still part ways with aging, expensive veterans to clear up space this year and beyond.

The salary cap won’t be of much concern to the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. According to Over the Cap, the Niners will have $55,239,714 (as of February 23) against the projected $155 million NFL salary cap with which to work.

That number puts the 49ers at No. 6 overall in terms of cap space, which gives general manager Trent Baalke plenty of flexibility to re-sign players and/or target worthy free agents to upgrade the team’s roster entering 2016.

With so much space, one might think the Niners would have little-to-no need to part ways with veteran players who, for one reason or another, don’t fit into San Francisco’s financial plans moving forward.

But nothing in the NFL is truly guaranteed, and the 49ers could still be looking to cut ties with a number of players on the roster.

In some cases, these transactions free up money down the road. While the Niners’ cap situation looks great right now, that may not be the case next season or beyond. And player cuts always open up doors for younger, cheaper talent to fill increased roles.

So it’s more than reasonable to assume Baalke and the 49ers make a few of these transactions this offseason. A number of players will cost San Francisco a hefty chunk of change in the coming years.

And, in a few cases, cutting a player may wind up being “addition by subtraction.”

Let’s dive into some cap casualty possibilities for the Niners this offseason and try to determine the likelihood of it happening.

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