Anquan Boldin contract: Salary cap figure provides flexibility for 2014

Shortly after Anquan Boldin made his announcement that he was returning to the San Francisco 49ers, the organization made the announcement official on their end. The team announced the two-year deal, and now we're starting to hear some potential details. We've heard confirmation from numerous media sources that the deal is worth $12 million, and includes $8.5 million in full and partial guaranteed money.

Our good friends at Pro Football Talk have a source stating the deal breaks down as follows:

Signing Bonus: $4,545,000

2014 Base: $955,000
2014 Game-day roster bonuses: $500,000 (total)
2014 Cap figure: $3,727,500

2015 Base: $5,500,000
2015 Game-day roster bonuses: $500,000 (total)
2015 Cap figure: $8,727,500

For 2014, Boldin's cap figure is just under $2.3 million less than it was in 2013. This past season, he earned $6 million, with no signing bonus proration. The 49ers have a lot of cap space to work with, but I suspect this money is more likely to be used on internal deals, as opposed to any big free agent additions. Whether that means Donte Whitner or Tarell Brown returns, or they just get to it with Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree, we'll see.

Moving past 2014, if Boldin were to show signs of age this coming season, they conceivably could release Boldin, and take a $2,272,500 hit of dead money. If Boldin continues to look like he did this past season, the cap hit will be worth it. And since we're looking at another good sized increase in the cap, the team potentially can afford to take that hit and still handle the rest of their obligations.

If any 33-year old receiver is going to make it through the deal with some measure of consistency, I have to think it's Boldin. His game isn't built around speed, so some notion of "losing a step" is not much of a concern. He'll have to maintain his physicality, but I don't see how that becomes a problem over the next two years. Anything can change, but I would think things remain in good shape with Boldin for the course of this deal.