San Francisco 49ers: 3 ramifications of George Kittle extension
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers will be over the salary cap in 2021
Strictly from a dollars and sense standpoint, the Niners are now faced with some tough salary-cap navigating challenges between now and the start of the league’s new year in spring of 2021.
Again, we don’t know all the details of George Kittle’s contract. But NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported Kittle received an $18 million signing bonus. Prorated over the life of the contract, Kittle is going to at least receive $3.6 million in 2021. And that doesn’t include any of his other guarantees, bonuses or base salary. It’s helpful to get closer to the $15 million annually Kittle is going to receive.
Even if we meet somewhere in the middle, let’s say around $10 million for 2021 alone, that would put San Francisco’s current financial obligations to players that year at just over $180 million. Currently, according to Over the Cap, the 49ers have $170,735,085 in total cap liabilities next season.
And that doesn’t include the approximately $7 million to $10 million required to sign a rookie NFL Draft class in 2021.
The Niners are going to have to come up with a combination of different decisions, which include executing some cap casualties, restructuring other players’ deals and letting pending free agents walk.
Needless to say, the 2021 roster could look vastly different than the one expected to take the field this season.