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At the start of training camp, the San Francisco 49ers placed rookies DL Cornellius Carradine, DL Quinton Dial, RB Marcus Lattimore and OT Luke Marquardt on the Active/Non-Football Injury list. In the middle of camp, the team signed cornerback Eric Wright and immediately placed him on the Active/NFI list. When the team began cutting down the roster, they immediately placed all five players on the Reserve/NFI list, sidelining them for at least six weeks.
In June, socalisteph put together a rundown of the timelines involved with the PUP and NFI lists. One thing we did not discuss much was salary implications. When a player is on the PUP list, they still earn their salary. When a player is placed on the NFI list, the team is not obligated to pay them. The idea is that the injury occurred in a situation outside the team's control, so they should not be obligated to pay.
That being said, teams have the right to work out a deal with the player and his agent to pay some or all of his salary. The 49ers have reportedly done that with at least Eric Wright and Luke Marquardt. According to Brian McIntyre, the 49ers are paying Wright $10,000 per week and Marquardt is getting the practice squad rate of $6,000 per week.
Considering Marquardt was signed as an undrafted free agent, he received a fairly minimal signing bonus, with reports having it at $5,000. The 49ers signed him likely knowing he would spend the season on the NFI list. In working out their contract with him, it would not surprise me if offering to pay him a practice squad rate was a pertinent factor in getting him signed.
We don't know about the rest of the NFI players, but it is worth noting they all received signing bonuses of six figures. Per Over the Cap, Quinton Dial's estimated signing bonus was $181,652, Marcus Lattimore's was $300,584 and Tank Carradine's was $1,978,312. While Carradine and Dial seem like they could potentially get back when they are eligible, Lattimore seems pretty close to a lock to spend the season on the NFI list.