The NFL is a 12-month-a-year business, but that doesn't mean there aren't places along the calendar that are more notable than others, like Week 1 of the regular season, the start of the playoffs, and Super Bowl Sunday.
But another date looms as the calendar turns to March that allows teams to officially hit the reset button on the previous campaign and fully turn their attention to the next: in this case, March 12, the start of the new league year.
According to the NFL's website, the new year commences at 4 p.m. ET, meaning teams can officially sign players to free-agent contracts after having worked out potential deals during the open negociation period, which starts on March 10.
With the beginning of the 2025 season coming soon, teams will need to figure out who they want to target in free agency and how much they are willing to spend in order to attempt to lure those players to a new city.
This, of course, means that teams and fans are paying close attention to the salary cap, which took a massive leap for 2025.
49ers salary cap situation to kick off 2025
The San Francisco 49ers fine themselves in a good but not great position relative to the salary cap heading into free agency.
While the bump helped them, the imminent trade of wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders is not only going to leave a hole in the Niners' receiving corps, it also creates a $31 million chasm in their cap space due to a dead-money hit in Deebo's contract.
The thought process was likely to take the hit all at once rather than spreading it out over a few years, which is what would have happened if the 49ers opted to release Deebo with a post-June 1 designation.
This leaves the 49ers with enough cap space to make some moves, but probably precludes them from taking massive swings at free agents, especially when you consider a potential extension for quarterback Brock Purdy.
As of now, Over the Cap estimates the 49ers having roughly $33.7 million in cap space, as the site has already factored in the yet-to-be official trade of Deebo to the Commanders. This includes dead money for Deebo, as well as now-Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead ($15.5 million), cornerback Charvarius Ward ($12.2 million), linebacker DeVondre Campbell ($2.6 million), linebacker Dre Greenlaw ($1.8 million), and cornerback Isaac Yiadom ($1.1 million) as well as a few hits under the million dollar mark.
The 49ers are paying just short of $66 million to players who won't be on their roster in 2025, barring a re-signing of somelike Greenlaw, which will significantly hamper their aggressiveness in free agency.
Add to that an expected $10 million or so to sign in the upcoming draft class, and it gives you a good idea of how much movement to expect on March 12 when the league year begins.
Suffice it to say, if general manager John Lynch and the 49ers' brass are going to make moves, they are going to have to be creative in order to do so and improve the team heading into 2025.