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San Francisco 49ers: Breaking down salary cap situations through 2018, 2019 and 2020

By Peter Panacy

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 31: General Manager John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 31: General Manager John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TX – DECEMBER 10: Tom Savage #3 of the Houston Texans avoids a tackle by DeForest Buckner #99 of the San Francisco 49ers in the first quarter at NRG Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – DECEMBER 10: Tom Savage #3 of the Houston Texans avoids a tackle by DeForest Buckner #99 of the San Francisco 49ers in the first quarter at NRG Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

49ers’ Salary Cap Situation in 2020

Projected Cap Space: $122,571,358

Things start to get really interesting for the 49ers in 2020. Noted earlier, cutting Jimmy Garoppolo after 2019 would cost just $4.2 million in dead money and free up $22.4 million in cap space.

This is undesirable, of course, as the hope is Garoppolo stays with the Niners for a long, long time. Still, with an estimated cap of $200 million, San Francisco has a lot of money to play with. The team currently sits with the 10th least amount of cap, but we’re also looking three seasons into the future.

There are three notable pending free agents on the 49ers roster for 2020 — left tackle Joe Staley and, to a lesser extent, offensive guard Joshua Garnett and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. The Niners could exercise both fifth-year options on Garnett and/or Buckner, as they’re both former first-round NFL Draft picks.

Yet the safe bet would be Buckner, whom Pro Football Focus ranked the sixth best interior defensive lineman of 2017. Continued strong efforts may prompt the Niners to offer a contract extension long before this decision point is reached anyway.

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Staley, on the other hand, will be 36 years old before the 2020 season starts. It doesn’t seem likely he’ll be playing that late into his career, but both parties can hope for the best.

2020 might also be a year in which the Niners either pick up options on first-round draftees from John Lynch’s first draft class, defensive end Solomon Thomas and linebacker Reuben Foster (we’ll see, pending his off-field investigations) and additional extensions for other rookies from the 2017 NFL Draft.

Provided they’re still on the roster by then, of course.

Next: 3 bold predictions for Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018

Either way, the Niners are in great position to tackle free agency the next few years, should they so choose. There aren’t any bad contracts. Not even Garoppolo’s.