Are the San Francisco 49ers Gearing Up to Spend Big in 2017 NFL Free Agency?
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers own the most amount of cap space out of all 32 NFL teams. Franchises are allowed to carry over unused monies, so does this mean the Niners are poised to aggressively hit free agency in 2017?
The San Francisco 49ers are stashing away a nice little “rainy day” fund as the 2016 NFL season quickly approaches.
Of course, the term “rainy day” is a metaphor for what the Niners’ plans may be a little less than a year from now when free agency hits.
No, not this year’s dwindling free-agent class. We’re talking about 2017.
As of now, the 49ers boast an incredible $49,020,398 in cap space against the NFL’s $155.27 million salary cap, per Over the Cap. This puts the Niners at No. 1, in terms of total cap space, and San Francisco has more than $7.43 million more than the next team, the Cleveland Browns, in terms of total cap breathing room.
So why does this huge number exist? What good is money if it’s not spent on something valuable?
This is especially concerning, given the Niners aren’t exactly a talent-laden team right now. San Francisco wasn’t exactly aggressive on the 2016 free-agent market. General manager Trent Baalke’s big-ticket item was none other than offensive guard Zane Beadles.
OK, so Baalke isn’t known as a big player in free agency. That’s fine. His mentality is to draft first and merely supplement via free agency.
But the 49ers will need to do something with the incredible amount of space available.
Without making this too complicated — thus, requiring a team of lawyers and legal advisers to break down the verbiage — here’s the scoop on cap space and how teams can carry over the amounts, all courtesy of the NFL Players Association:
"Under the current CBA, Clubs have minimum cash spending requirements. For the years 2013-2016, Clubs are required to spend an average of 89% of the Salary Cap over the four-year period. League-wide, Clubs must spend an average of 95% of the Salary Cap over the four-year period.Once the 2016 salary cap is set, the carryover amount and other adjustments from the 2015 season will be combined for each team’s official salary cap position."
The major discrepancy between the 49ers 2016 total salaries and the cap itself would not be a factor as long as the team spent the required amounts over a four-year period.
Still, San Francisco will likely be carrying over a good chunk of the $49-plus million into 2017.
This number will change, of course, between now and then. Players may be re-signed, and the team will likely pick up some free agents over the course of the season — supplementary players to fill roster spots and to replace injured players here and there.
But this puts Baalke and Co. in an excellent position to be very aggressive in free agency next year.
Before we jump into speculating what the Niners will do a year from now, let’s try to figure out why Baalke didn’t exactly “go big” in free agency this year.
Steve Berman of Bay Area Sports Guy suggested Baalke was reluctant to go after big-ticket free agents in 2016 due to a number of reasons. But the biggest one was because he, and the rest of San Francisco’s brass, understood the 49ers aren’t going to be contenders this season. He wrote:
"And, while we make fun of the 49ers’ front office quite a bit around these parts, we should admit something. Baalke, Paraag Marathe and Jed York are probably smart enough to know they can’t realistically compete for a playoff spot in 2016. Not in the NFL’s toughest division, not without a franchise quarterback, not with an extremely young roster in a brand new system.This will be another developmental year, one in which the 49ers hope Kelly and his staff can develop the young players and a considerable number of drafted rookies better than Jim Tomsula and his staff did in 2015. And if the players show signs of improvement, maybe — just maybe — the 49ers will actually act like a team with tens of millions in cap space a year from now."
San Francisco will have a number of tough decisions to make in regards to the team’s own free agents in 2017. Guys like quarterback Blaine Gabbert, defensive tackle Ian Williams and linebackers Michael Wilhoite and Gerald Hodges will be on the market, to name a few.
And Baalke may choose to extend some of the younger players on the roster too.
But we should turn our attention to some of the other notable free agents set to hit the market in 2017 as well.
Take a look at some of the pending free agents possibly available in 2017. There are some good names on the list, and it’s worth arguing this NFL free-agent class is much better and deeper than what was seen in 2016.
Maybe the 49ers are eyeballing a player like New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery or Denver Broncos pass-rushing linebacker Von Miller.
Who knows? What we do know is the 49ers will be in a position to act as aggressively as they want.
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It’s not a bad position to be in. But any sort of success here hinges on San Francisco’s willingness to actually spend money on the open market. It’s a strategy that goes against what Baalke has mostly done during his tenure as the 49ers GM.
Even so, actions in free agency don’t always translate to on-field production worth the value. Any 49ers fan can recall what happened with former Niners defensive back Nate Clements, right?
As with anything roster-related, the decisions to be made will have to be smart ones. The approach isn’t always about landing the most-heralded player, rather it needs to be about landing the right ones.
At least the 49ers will have the cap space to do it.
Next: An Early Look at the 49ers 2017 Free Agents
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.