49ers clear Carlos Rogers salary, will any extensions follow?

Happy Carlos Rogers Appreciation Day! The San Francisco 49ers officially clear $6.1 million in cap space thanks to the June 1 designation applied to Rogers. The 49ers released him on March 11, but applied the June 1 designation. This meant he was immediately a free agent, but the 49ers did not clear out cap space until today, June 2. The 49ers cleared $6.6 million, but as Jason Hurley pointed out on Friday, it's $6.1 million against the Top 51 because a $570,000 player joins the Top 51 salaries.

The 49ers have not completely cleared Rogers off the books because the June 1 designation instead allowed them to split his remaining dead money over two years. The 49ers will carry $1,494,531 in 2014 dead money, and $1,494,531 in 2015 dead money. The 49ers could have immediately cleared Rogers off the books in 2014, but it would have meant clearing less space this year. It now means a little dead money in the future, but also more space this year. And given the 49ers upcoming class of free agents, a few extra bucks now is not the worst idea in the world.

The question now is how the 49ers plan on using that money. The 49ers will want to carry over cap space into the season in case they have to deal with any injuries or other issues. Additionally, they can always roll extra space over to 2015 if they so choose. But I think we all know how they will want to use a portion of their cap space. The team is working toward getting Colin Kaepernick signed to a long-term deal. They'll need cap space for his deal, but they'll also need space after he signs so they can work on other extensions.

Locking up Colin Kaepernick would secure the quarterback position for the foreseeable future, but it also means there is less money going around to everybody else. As Tim Kawakami pointed out, this might explain why Alex Boone and Vernon Davis decided to make a contract stand now (naturally, assuming it's contract related!). It is always important to do well in the draft, but once Kap gets his big contract, it becomes that much more important to nail the draft. The margin for error decreases considerably with a potential $20 million quarterback.

But negative cap implications aside, is Kap the next deal that gets done? Do we see a smaller deal first? Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati and Chris Culliver are all notable players coming up for contracts. I still think Kap gets done before any of them, but maybe a smaller deal gets done before then? Or maybe Vernon Davis or Alex Boone get something done? I would be surprised if Davis or Boone got a deal before Kap, but who knows.

The 49ers could have made some things happen before June 2, but now they have a sizable chunk of space for some internal work. Will we see something between now and training camp?