3 reasons 49ers wouldn’t think about trading for Matt Ryan
By Peter Panacy
Reason No. 3: Money, trade assets don’t add up for the 49ers
Over the Cap currently lists the Niners at $9.15 million under the salary cap, although this doesn’t include cornerback Charvarius Ward’s new deal, which is three years and worth up to $42 million.
Atlanta is delaying Matt Ryan’s $7.5 million roster bonus, which was due March 18, yet he might look to move on in a Baker Mayfield-like way in the wake of the Falcons exploring Deshaun Watson.
As things stand now, though, the Falcons would still be on the hook for $40.5 million in dead money if they trade Ryan, and the destination team would have to absorb $8.14 million for 2022, then $28 million in 2023 before Ryan’s current deal ends.
Sure, the 2022 cap hit for San Francisco wouldn’t be bad, and it could certainly afford it if Jimmy Garoppolo is moved, freeing up an additional $25.5 million in cap space.
However, as Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker pointed out in the video below, that generated cap space would be better suited to supporting an ideal roster around Trey Lance, surrounding him with additional weapons and/or utilizing it to secure wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s services for the long haul:
More on Lance’s impact in a moment. But would the 49ers want to take on that amount of money while also having to dish off a likely second- or third-round NFL Draft pick back to the Falcons after trading away so many draft assets to acquire Lance a year ago?
Even just from the basic of perspectives, such a move makes zero sense.
But wait, there’s more.