The 49ers were able to wait it out with injured EDGE Dee Ford, whose post-June 1 release will still cost a lot of dead cap but won’t be as bad as before.
Right now, at least at the time of this article being written, veteran EDGE Dee Ford is still on the San Francisco 49ers roster.
One shouldn’t expect things to stay that way for very long, though.
The 31-year-old pass-rusher whom the Niners acquired via trade from the Kansas City Chiefs early in 2019, subsequently signing him to a five-year extension worth $85.5 million, subsequently dealt with a series of injuries during his three-year tenure with San Francisco, being limited to 11 regular-season games his first season with the squad, just one in 2020 and then only six in 2021.
And while he was notably productive in the pass-rush department when healthy, a chronic back injury ultimately put into question his greatest asset that was missing: availability.
| Game | Game | Def | Fumb | Fumb | Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | G | GS | PD | FF | FR | Sk | Comb | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits |
| 2014 | 23 | KAN | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2015 | 24 | KAN | 14 | 5 | 2 | 4.0 | 23 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 11 | ||
| 2016 | 25 | KAN | 15 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10.0 | 38 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 17 |
| 2017 | 26 | KAN | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 2018* | 27 | KAN | 16 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 13.0 | 55 | 42 | 13 | 13 | 29 | |
| 2019 | 28 | SFO | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.5 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 2020 | 29 | SFO | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 30 | SFO | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Career | Career | 85 | 43 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 40.0 | 159 | 117 | 42 | 44 | 79 | |
| 5 yr | 5 yr | KAN | 67 | 41 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 30.5 | 137 | 103 | 34 | 36 | 69 |
| 3 yr | 3 yr | SFO | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9.5 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 6/4/2022.
Even though the 49ers reworked Ford’s contract, he’s still going to carry plenty of dead money over into 2022 no matter what the Niners do with him.
Despite that, general manager John Lynch already suggested the team was prepared to move on from Ford anyway this offseason.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into how Ford’s inevitable release will impact San Francisco.
49ers aren’t likely to retain Dee Ford too long into 2022 offseason
Earlier this offseason, John Lynch spoke about Dee Ford’s dwindling prospects for a healthy recovery and return to the squad, telling the media the following:
No surprise but sounds very unlikely DE Dee Ford will be back with #49ers next season. GM John Lynch: "I don’t see a lot of hope in him being a factor for us on the field moving forward." Ford's back injury just hasn't progressed to give Niners belief a return is possible.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) March 28, 2022
“I don’t see a lot of hope in him being a factor for us on the field moving forward,” Lynch said.
Compounding the reality of this, San Francisco used its first pick of the 2022 NFL Draft on an apparent replacement for Ford, former USC EDGE Drake Jackson, who was picked up at No. 61 overall and figures to be an every-down player once his development is fully reached.
Read More: 49ers should expect more from Drake Jackson than they got from Dee Ford
Yet the 49ers couldn’t exactly experience many benefits if they simply got rid of Ford earlier this offseason.
We have to look at why June 1 was such an important date to reach between the two parties.
49ers wanted to wait until after June 1 to release Dee Ford
Dee Ford has played 378 regular-season defensive snaps with the Niners since being acquired back in 2019.
From a cash-per-snap perspective, it’s safe to say San Francisco hasn’t gotten its money’s worth.
Post-June 1 release designations are intended to give cap-pressed teams, like the 49ers in 2022, a better opportunity to let go of players with less of a cap hit.
In Ford’s case, waiting until after June 1 would at least generate $1.12 million in cap space for this season, as The Athletic’s David Lombardi pointed out:
-2022 dead money if Dee Ford were released today (5/31): $14.4m
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) May 31, 2022
-2022 dead money if Dee Ford is tomorrow or after (6/1): $5.8m
Starting tomorrow, 49ers can defer $8.6m of that dead cap cost to 2023 and save $1.12m of 2022 space
Granted, the Niners are still going to have to eat $5.8 million in dead money this season, but with four voided years starting in 2023, the remainder of his dead-money hit can be spread out over a period of time when the NFL salary cap is expected to increase significantly.
Ford’s 2023 dead-money hit is anticipated to be another $5.8 million with subsequent hits over the following three years of $920,000.
Expensive, yes. But better than paying Ford not to play at all while generating at least some savings.
Again, Ford’s tenure with San Francisco is going to be remembered as a major overspend on a player, who despite his talents, ultimately was beset by too many injuries to become the X-factor for which the 49ers had hoped.
Few could have predicted that outcome, but it’s nevertheless a shame regardless, and his imminent release will finally signal the end of that disappointment.