49ers are still haunted by that awful Dee Ford contract

The 49ers have a bit of a salary-cap crunch entering 2023, and a big reason why is what happened with oft-injured EDGE Dee Ford.

If San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch either had a time machine or could accurately predict the future, he never would have made that 2019 trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for EDGE Dee Ford.

For starters, trading for players coming off a career-best season is always risky, and that’s precisely what the Niners did with Ford after his 2018 Pro Bowl campaign.

Then, since KC had placed the franchise tag on him, San Francisco’s subsequent five-year, $85.5 million extension wouldn’t have happened either.

It all made sense at the time, though. The 49ers just drafted phenom EDGE Nick Bosa and needed a bookend pass-rusher to create a potent defense, one that actually was potent and helped carry the Niners all the way to the Super Bowl against those very same Chiefs.

Ford, who had 6.5 sacks during the regular season, played a big role but appeared in only 11 games, and then he was sidelined for almost all of the 2020 season with a back injury that never truly healed.

After a reworked contract in 2021 and missing all but six games, San Francisco finally cut bait heading into 2022.

Yet Ford’s legacy and impact didn’t just go away.

Dee Ford contract is still hurting 49ers entering 2023

It was better to part ways with Ford entering 2022 rather than paying him not to play, and that’s how his reworked deal was handled.

ESPN’s Field Yates reported the initial details from that early 2022 offseason:

By waiting to cut Ford after June 1, the 49ers were able to generate $1.12 million in cap space last season.

It came at a cost, though, pushing a sizable amount of dead money into 2023.

$8.6 million in dead money, per Over the Cap, to be precise.

Not surprisingly, that’s the biggest dead-money hit the Niners have heading into this offseason. Considering they have only a shade over $8 million in cap space and a sizeable number of pending free agents they’d like to bring back, it’s safe to say the wake of Ford’s experience with San Francisco is still handcuffing the 49ers’ efforts even if he’s no longer on the roster.

If there’s some good news, it’s effectively a one-year hit remaining, and the Niners won’t be burdened by Ford’s contract beyond this season.

It’ll still hurt this year, though.