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Earlier this week, following the San Francisco 49ers decision to trade wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, we took a quick look at the initial salary cap implications. I thought we'd take a deep dive into the implications of this trade. In doing the deal, the 49ers lose some money in 2013 and 2014, but they gain cap room in 2015.
Jenkins was due guaranteed base salaries of $705,797 in 2013, and $1,021,594 in 2014, and also had a $677,309 roster bonus due at the beginning of the 2015 league year. With this trade, all that money is off the 49ers' books. The 49ers are left taking on $872,500 in 2013 dead money, and $1.745 million in 2014 dead money.
Following the trade, the 49ers take on Baldwin's guaranteed 2013 base salary of $1,061,510. Baldwin also has a 2014 base salary of $1,247,765, but it is not guaranteed. He has an additional $130,000 workout bonus in 2014 that is not guaranteed.
The 49ers did lose cap space in 2014, as they now have an estimated $4 million in 2014. The good news is they have have $31 million for 2015. There are plenty of free agents to deal with, but they'll have some space with which to work.
It's clear that the 49ers know that they made a mistake of taking Jenkins at pick 30 in 2012. They made the right move by trading him, and not cutting him, and risk deeper damage down the line. This is particularly true for the 2014 season, where they would have lost over $1 million. Worse would of been 2013, with almost $2.05 million dead money, losing out on precious cap space. The 49ers remain in a position where they could roll over some decent cap space, or use it to extend one of their big up-coming free agents.