San Francisco 49ers: 2020 campaign is crucial for Jaquiski Tartt

The 49ers want Jaquiski Tartt to be successful in 2020, but that could push him out of the Niners’ price range.

There are a lot of potential changes facing the San Francisco 49ers secondary in 2021. And while general manager John Lynch and Co. have another season before fully worrying about those, the players potentially playing for new future deals this season have a lot riding upon the upcoming 2020 campaign.

One of those players is veteran strong safety Jaquiski Tartt, who was a key part in a Niners defense which allowed the fewest passing yards in the league a season ago.

Tartt, who just turned 28 years old and already signed a contract extension back in 2018, is entering a contract year this season and is poised to be a free agent in 2021. While he’s not quite on the tier of being an elite-level All-Pro kind of player, there’s little questioning his ability to make San Francisco’s defense better. Rib injuries forced Tartt to miss four games last season, and the Niners defense was notably worse with him off the field.

Last year, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh implemented some tweaks to the defense, making both safety spots more interchangeable than they had been previously with the predominant single-high free safety coverage, then lining up the strong safety at the line of scrimmage.

Tartt seemed to manage the transition well, earning an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 66.4 and posting a pass-coverage grade of 67.9 — both respectable numbers and largely indicative of the kind of career he’s had since being selected in Round 2 of the 2015 NFL Draft.

But Tartt also comes with a bit of an injury history, which includes missing those four games last season. In 2018, Tartt was able to play in only eight games, and the previous year limited him to just nine.

So that’s another area in which Tartt will want to excel amid a new contract: staying healthy.

San Francisco will want to have Tartt available as much as possible, too. Yet a highly productive year from the former Samford standout could ultimately hinder the Niners’ efforts to retain him beyond 2020.

Jaquiski Tartt, 49ers cap concerns and contracts, oh my!

Good teams have good players, and good players are worth more on the open market. Tartt is a good player, and he’ll be deserving of a good contract in the very near future. Simple enough.

It’s not unlike what San Francisco dished out in reward to its free safety, Jimmie Ward, who also has an injury history and also made a massive difference in the team’s secondary last season. And while Ward’s new deal crossed off a would-be major roster need entering 2020, the 49ers could be hard-pressed retaining Tartt.

Especially if he has a career-type year.

Currently, according to Over the Cap, the Niners are set to have $49,781,160 available in cap space for 2021. This doesn’t include an estimated cap increase to $240 million, rather $215 million, and it also doesn’t account for what’s likely going to be a record-setting contract extension for tight end George Kittle and possible re-sign moves for cornerback Richard Sherman and others. So the big question becomes whether or not San Francisco can fit Tartt’s contract into its fiscal plans.

OTC valued Tartt’s production in 2019 at just over $3.3 million annually, which is an awfully affordable number on the open market. Yet if Tartt winds up playing at a level much higher than what was seen last season, one should expect that number to increase significantly.

And perhaps out of the Niners’ comfort range.

This would be a benefit to San Francisco, of course, at least in terms of the 2020 defense. Yet Tartt having himself a huge year this season could also mean the 49ers must search for contingency plans if he ultimately departs on the open market a little less than a year from now.