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The 49ers signed Phil Dawson this week, and as shortly before Dawson met with the media yesterday, Adam Schefter had some information on his salary figures:
49ers gave K Phil Dawson a one-year, $2.25 million deal, including $1 million signing bonus. Great deal for Niners, not-so-great for Dawson.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 20, 2013
Last season, Dawson made $3.81 million. If you're wondering why the big change in salary, it is in part because he was playing under the kicker tag. That is set as no less than the average of the top five kickers in the league.
If we look at this year's kickers, based on their 2013 salaries, Dawson would appear to be the 10th highest paid kicker in 2013. Considering how well he performed in 2012, that's a pretty solid bargain for the 49ers. David Akers was scheduled to make $3 million, and his release leaves the 49ers on the hook for just under $600,000. So, you could make the case that the 49ers are paying their kicker position approximately $2.85 million.
According to our man Jason Hurley, that leaves the 49ers with approximately $4.6 million in cap space.