5 crazy stats that say everything about SF 49ers 2020 season
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: Money the SF 49ers have committed to injured players
It’s one thing to lose a lot of players to injury. It’s another if most of those players are actually substantial members of the offense or defense.
Regarding Baltimore’s league-high 45 players who have appeared on IR, it has committed just over $31 million in cap space to these players.
In contrast, the SF 49ers are dishing out a whopping $71.15 million to players on injured reserve, which is far and away most out of all 32 teams and accounts for just over 35 percent of their cap space, which is also the most in the NFL.
Injured players like tight end George Kittle, EDGE Dee Ford, defensive end Solomon Thomas, safety Jaquiski Tartt and EDGE Nick Bosa are making a good deal of cash and have missed sizable chunks of the season. But the biggest setback, especially financially, was the loss of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a high-ankle sprain.
The Niners are committing over $26 million to him right now to recover.
Going back to how the rest of the league is faring, only the Dallas Cowboys ($61.5 million) rank north of the $60 million threshold, and that’s largely due to their quarterback, Dak Prescott, being injured while on the franchise tag.
The Denver Broncos are just over $51 million in money committed to injured players, and only three other teams have between $40 million and $49 million for injured players.
The rest of the league is below that last mark, making San Francisco’s experience in 2020 a painfully unique outlier.