The 49ers knew that finding a franchise quarterback wasn’t going to be easy. To supplement the position while they look to find a long-term answer under center, they’ve built a juggernaut of a roster that can support some up-and-down QB play.
A good illustration of the 49ers’ roster construction is shown via their salary cap commitments for the 2023 season.
San Francisco is actually in a reasonable place from a financial standpoint. They sit $10,648,223 below the cap heading into training camp according to Over the Cap. That number could actually climb some once Nick Bosa’s extension is done since it will likely drop his cap hit this year. Without an extension he’s set to play on the fully-guaranteed fifth-year option on his rookie deal which will cost north of $17 million against the cap.
Part of the reason they’re in an okay financial spot this year is because of some contract restructures over the last couple seasons that pushed money further into the future. Eventually those bills will come due and the team will be in a tough spot cap-wise. That’s part of the reason they need some of their young players on rookie deals to work out if they want to extend their Super Bowl window. They can’t afford to keep filling holes via free agency.
Let’s take a look at what their cap situation looks like heading into training camp with the 15 biggest cap hits scheduled for this season:
1
LT Trent Williams
2023 cap hit: $27,227,424
2
DL Arik Armstead
2023 cap hit: $23,755,883
3
TE George Kittle
2023 cap hit: $18,033,751
4
DE Nick Bosa
2023 cap hit: $17,859,000
5
QB Trey Lance
2023 cap hit: $9,301,434
6
LB Fred Warner
2023 cap hit: $9,049,000
7
WR Deebo Samuel
2023 cap hit: $8,653,529
8
FB Kyle Juszczyk
2023 cap hit: $6,565,221
9
DL Javon Hargrave
2023 cap hit: $6,555,000
10
CB Charvarius Ward
2023 cap hit: $6,421,000
11
QB Sam Darnold
2023 cap hit: $5,711,765
12
LB Dre Greenlaw
2023 cap hit: $5,548,558
13
DL Javon Kinlaw
2023 cap hit: $4,928,223
14
WR Brandon Aiyuk
2023 cap hit: $3,987,248
15
RB Christian McCaffrey
2023 cap hit: $3,424,000
