The 49ers on Tuesday restructured the contract of cornerback Charvarius Ward per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Ward’s original deal signed last offseason was a three-year contract worth $40.5 million. With the restructure, the 49ers converted nearly $12.5 million of his base salary into a signing bonus, which lowers his cap hit in 2023 and spreads it out over the remainder of the deal.
Since Ward’s deal only ran through the 2024 season, the 49ers tacked on three ‘void’ years. Ward won’t be under contract during those void years, but the team will still be charged for the amount of signing bonus spread into those years.
Per Over the Cap, his prorated bonus in the first two void years (2024 and 2025) is $4,901,000. In 2026 he’ll cost the 49ers $2,496,000 against the cap.
San Francisco was over the 2023 salary cap prior to restructuring Ward. Redoing his deal will cost them some money down the road, but it got them back under the cap by clearing about $10 million in space this year.
