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San Francisco 49ers: Imagining an uber hypothetical 2018 free agency

By Logan Stanley

CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 20: Le'Veon Bell #26 of the Pittsburgh Steelers carries the ball past the defense of Jamie Collins #51 of the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 20: Le'Veon Bell #26 of the Pittsburgh Steelers carries the ball past the defense of Jamie Collins #51 of the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 20: Le’Veon Bell #26 of the Pittsburgh Steelers carries the ball past the defense of Jamie Collins #51 of the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 20: Le’Veon Bell #26 of the Pittsburgh Steelers carries the ball past the defense of Jamie Collins #51 of the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

It’s a long way out, but the next NFL free agency period is shaping up to feature a deep pool of players. That’s wonderful news for the San Francisco 49ers, who potentially might own upwards of $110 million in cap space. That in mind, let’s imagine the dream free agency for the team.

This past offseason, the 49ers were the most aggressive team in free agency.

With a new regime in place and an abundance of cap space, it was bound to happen. But even with that approach in free agency, San Francisco sits in good standing with regard to cap space.

Right now the team has $61.2 million in cap space, per Spotrac. Considering they were at the top of league in terms of of players signed, it was a masterful job by the 49ers front office to be able to have that much space after it was all said and done. And it might bode well for them in the future — NFL teams are allowed to carry over cap space.

As Jason Hurley of Niners Nation writes, if San Francisco rolls over its cap space from the 2017 season –which the team is all but guaranteed to do — the number could be in the range of $113.1 million. That would provide extreme flexibility come free agency, with a handful of big names set to hit the market.

So, in this uber-hypothetical free agency, let’s map out a 2018 free agency plan for the 49ers.

The hypothetical will be based on the premise that all free agents will be available, meaning they won’t be tagged (that’s why uber has been emphasized). Market value for contracts will be derived from Spotrac, and the $113 million figure will be the cap space we work under.