The 49ers are dishing out plenty of money to players who aren't on the roster in 2025.
The San Francisco 49ers are facing a potential franchise-shifting decision this offseason as they prepare to offer quarterback Brock Purdy a massive contract extension, one that could possibly make him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Whether or not Purdy aims to be that expensive player is to be determined, but the earmarked spend the Niners will eventually possess means they have to budget accordingly elsewhere on the roster.
Up through 2024, Purdy was playing on the most inexpensive contract given to players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, the result of being selected with that year's final pick, affording San Francisco the opportunity to spend big elsewhere.
That'll change in 2025 and beyond, at least for the foreseeable future.
Interestingly enough, though, the 49ers are still dishing out money to players who are either not currently on the roster or who aren't signed this upcoming season.
You might be surprised with the names and amounts still due.
49ers already have almost $35 million in dead money for 2025
The Niners have some significant dead-money hits entering the new season:
Player | Dead money in 2025 |
|---|---|
DT Arik Armstead | $15,547,000 |
CB Charvarius Ward* | $12,298,000 |
LB De'Vondre Campbell* | $2,680,000 |
LB Dre Greenlaw* | $1,864,766 |
CB Isaac Yiadom* | $1,100,000 |
OL Jon Feliciano* | $470,000 |
TE Cameron Latu | $428,756 |
WR Danny Gray | $212,255 |
OL Jarrett Kingston | $103,791 |
Total | $34,970,802 |
*denotes pending 49ers free agent
As shown above, the Niners owe almost $35 million in dead money to players who aren't under contract (including those already signed elsewhere) in 2025. And that number could increase even more, depending on what happens with wide receiver Deebo Samuel's recent trade request.
Now, before you file this as horrid money management, it's important to acknowledge a hefty chunk of dead-money spend is from a strategy San Francisco often uses: spreading out signing bonuses for player contracts by adding void years. Ward, Greenlaw, Yiadom and Feliciano all had void years applied to their current deals to spread out said bonuses.
Armstead's dead money, meanwhile, is the result of cash owed after his 2024 release with a post-June 1 designation.
To understand how void years work, click here.
In short, by spreading out signing bonuses over multiple years, the cap hit can be minimized on a yearly basis (restrictions do apply). Paired with the almost-yearly increase of the salary cap, those deferred payments don't take up as much of a percentage of the cap as they would have only a year or two earlier.
Most cap dollars currently in void years:
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) February 12, 2025
1. PHI (duh): $390.4M
2. SF: $204.1M
3. CLE: $187.5M
4. NO: $112.1M
5. JAX:$106.55M
6. NYJ: $87.6M
7. MIA: $70.6M
8. DAL: $62.755M
9. TB: $56.1M
10. DET: $52.1M
11. BAL: $50.8M
12. HOU: $47.09M
13. MIN: $47.08M
14. DEN: $40.3M
The 49ers, along with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles, haven't been shy about applying void years to player contracts, which has kept them from proverbial salary-cap "hell" despite boasting star-studded, expensive rosters.
So, even if non-rostered players are still counting against the Niners' cap for 2025, it's all part of the strategy.
All contractual and cap information, courtesy of Over the Cap unless otherwise indicated.