Eric Wright contract details: Minimum salary benefit in play

A day after the San Francisco 49ers announced the re-signing of CB Eric Wright to a 1-year deal, we've got his contract details. It's not a big contract by any means, but every penny counts for the 49ers. The base salary was posted on the NFLPA salary database, and Matt Maiocco has the bonus money:

Base Salary: $855,000
Reporting Bonus: $20,000
Roster Bonus: $25,000

Cap Figure: $590,000

The reason Wright's cap figure is only $590,000 is because of the minimum salary benefit. This allows a team to sign a player with four or more credited seasons to a minimum contract, but save money on the cap hit. It was instituted to encourage teams to sign veterans instead of discarding them for rookies. The rule applies to the following situation:

1. A player With 4+ credited seasons
2. He signs a one year contract for the veteran minmum
3. The contract has no more than $65,000 in "additional compensation" (signing bonus, roster bonus, reporting bonus, incentives)

If those conditions apply, the player receives the full minimum contract, but his salary cap is that of a second year player. In this case, Wright gets the minimum salary for players with 7-9 credited seasons, which is $855,000. His cap hit is that of a second year player, which is $570,000, plus I believe the reporting bonus.

Last year, the 49ers signed Wright to the veteran minimum + $1. They did this because one rule with the minimum salary benefit is that you cannot renegotiate the contract during the season. Adding the $1 meant they did not get the cap break, but had they so chosen, they could have negotiated a long-term deal during the season. That would seem to show the team was pretty high on him coming into the season. Obviously it did not work out quite as planned.

Prior to this move, Jason Hurley had the 49ers with $5,364,710 in cap space. The Wright deal would leave the 49ers with $4,774,710 in cap space. This does not reflect the Phil Dawson 2-year contract, of which figures have not yet come out. I could have sworn I saw someone say it was worth $5 million, but I can't find that information anywhere. The salaries should show up in the NFLPA database soon.

Additionally, the number above does not reflect the Carlos Rogers release because of the June 1st designation. Rogers is a free agent now, but the 49ers don't get the cap space until this summer.