The San Francisco 49ers made 14 roster moves on Monday to cut down to the 75-man roster limit required by 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The moves included ten cuts, and four injury list adjustments. Most of the moves have no bearing on anything long-term, but a few of the moves will add to the 49ers salary cap expenditures for 2015.
The most notable transaction on Monday was probably the decision to cut defensive tackle Lawrence Okoye. In his third year with the team, there was some thought that maybe he was starting to show some things. The 49ers released him in this early round, and it would not surprise me if it was to give him an opportunity to land elsewhere before final roster cuts. In making this cut, the 49ers are on the hook for $68,405 in guaranteed money. That covers $59,202 in 2015, and $9,203 in 2016. If Okoye cannot find a spot elsewhere and eventually ends up on the 49ers practice squad, the $59,202 will be applied towards his practice squad salary. A player cannot double dip, so his dead money would end up at $9,203.
The 49ers also cut 2013 seventh round pick Trey Millard. They had given him a modest signing bonus in 2014. By releasing him, the 49ers are on the hook for $11,787 in 2015 dead money, and $23,574 in 2016 dead money. That comes due to the cut technically being a "post-June 1 cut."
The 49ers placed four players on injured lists. They have to carry some or all of each of their salaries on the 2015 salary cap. Daniel Kilgore is on the PUP list, and will have a $1,875,000 cap figure. DeAndre Smelter is on the NFI list, which technically means the 49ers do not have to pay him. Teams usually work out deals with injured draft picks, so I suspect we see something with Smelter. We just don't know how much it will be of his $480,128 cap hit.
The 49ers moved two players to injured reserve to cut down to 75 players. Desmond Bishop had hand surgery last week, while Dres Anderson has dealt with some leg stuff. While I am sure Anderson is dealing with some stuff, I also imagine this is an easy excuse to stash him for the year. Anderson was due $435,000 in base salary, to go along with a $6,000 signing bonus. He has a split contract, which means going on IR results in a lower salary. His cap hit will be $320,000 according to Over The Cap.
It appear Bishop will also have a split salary, according to Over The Cap. He was due $870,000, but OTC lists him as a cap hit of $348,000. I still think we see him released with an injury settlement, unless this hand injury is a lot more serious than was first let on.
The 49ers will cut down to 53 players later this week, no later than Saturday 1 p.m. PT. They will add even more money to their dead money list as it is all but assured that some of the next round of cuts will include players with some signing bonus money or other guarantees. All that factors into the 49ers cap space, which was just over $13 million prior to roster cuts.