The 2015 preseason is officially a wrap, which means 53-man rosters and practice squads are just about set for the time being. There will be plenty of changes to both in the coming days, weeks and months, but from a salary cap perspective, we have a good handle on things.
The 49ers made 23 roster moves on Friday and Saturday to get down to the 53-man limit. They placed two players on injured reserve, acquired Nick Easton via trade, and then cut 21 players. I wanted to take a look at some of the cap implications of these moves. Some are pretty straight forward, while others have some interesting aspects to them.
The team currently has approximately $11.5 million in cap space. That number will decrease to just over $9.9 million if all weekly roster bonuses are achieved. Make sure and bookmark our 2015 salary cap page to check out the full salary cap rundown.
Practice Squad offsets
The 49ers cut a handful of players that they then signed to the practice squad on Sunday. Some of those players had gotten base salary guarantees, while others had basic signing bonuses. For those with salary guarantees, the weekly practice squad salary offsets those guarantees. The 49ers should get credited for that as it happens in the 2015 league year.
QB Dylan Thompson: The 49ers take on at maximum dead money hit of $13,333 for 2015, and $6,667 dead money hit in 2016. Their cap savings would be at least $425,000, and a maximum of $435,000. The reason for a maximum and minimum is if the 49ers get back the $10,000 base salary guarantee that they gave Thompson due to him signing with the 49ers practice squad. This would lower his dead money to just $3,333 for 2015.
RB Kendall Gaskins: The 49ers saved $435,000 against the salary cap by cutting Gaskins, with no dead money.
WR DiAndre Campbell: The 49ers take on a $833 dead money hit in 2015, and $1,667 dead money hit in 2016, while saving $435,000 in 2015. The small amount of dead money is due to a moderate signing bonus that prorated over the life of the deal.
OG Andrew Tiller: The 49ers saved $510,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.
DE Kaleb Ramsey: The 49ers take on a $12,050 dead money hit in 2015, and a $24,100 dead money hit in 2016, while saving $510,000 in 2015. The small amount of dead money is due to a moderate signing bonus that prorated over the life of the deal.
NT Garrison Smith: The 49ers saved $435,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.
OLB Marcus Rush: The 49ers take on a maximum dead money hit of $8,333 in 2015, and a $6,667 dead money hit in 2016, while saving the team $430,000. The 49ers can get back a $5,000 base salary guarantee for Rush, since he has signed with the 49ers practice squad. This would lower his dead money hit for 2015 to $3,333.
CB Marcus Cromartie: The 49ers saved $510,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.
FS Jermaine Whitehead: The 49ers took on a maximum dead money hit of $10,000 in 2015, and a $5,000 dead money hit in 2016, while saving the team $427,500 in 2015. The 49ers can get back a $7,500 base guarantee that they gave him, due to him signing with the team practice squad. This would lower his dead money to $2,500.
Veteran offsets
The 49ers released some notable veterans that had been given sizable guaranteed money. The 49ers still take cap hits for pro-rated signing bonuses, and carry dead money for offseason workout bonuses. However, if a player with a base salary guarantee signs with another team, the new contract will offset some or all of the base salary guarantees the 49ers are currently carrying as dead money. The difference is that the credit will take place in 2016, not the current league year.
SS Craig Dahl: The 49ers take on a $933,334 dead money hit in 2015, while saving $600,000. The dead money includes a $450,000 base salary guarantee the 49ers agreed to in a restructuring this offseason. However, Dahl signed with the New York Giants over the weekend. If he sticks around long enough this season, that will completely offset the $450,000 guarantee (based on the NFL veteran minimum).
DE Darnell Dockett: The 49ers saved $1.25 million by releasing Dockett, but also have to pay him a $2 million base salary guarantee they gave him at signing. Like Dahl, if Dockett signs with another team the 49ers will not have to pay him the full $2 million. However much he makes with his new team would be deducted from that $2 million, and that would be the 49ers new dead money hit. The 49ers paid Dockett a $500,000 workout bonus in the offseason, and that cannot be erased from dead money.
Injured Reserve, Suspension
The 49ers placed RB Kendall Hunter and TE Busta Anderson on Injured Reserve, and placed WR Jerome Simpson on Reserve/Suspended list. Anderson's base salary now reverts to a split amount of $318,000. His cap hit is $331,196, which includes the split plus $13,196 in prorated signing bonus money. The team also gets a salary cap credit of $262,941 for Simpson's suspension, which is six weeks worth of his $745,000 base salary.
Miscellaneous
WR Issac Blakeney: The 49ers take on a maximum dead money hit of $10,833, for 2015, and $6,667 dead money hit in 2016, while saving the team $427,500 in 2015. The 49ers could have gotten back a $7,500 base salary guarantee had they signed him to the practice squad. They still could, but for now we will leave it at $10,833 for 2015 in dead money.
TE Xavier Grimble: The 49ers saved $435,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.
C Joe Looney: The 49ers take on a $106,301 dead money hit, while saving $660,000 in salary cap room for 2015.
C Dillon Farrell: The 49ers take on a $1,666 dead money hit in 2015, and $1,668 dead money hit in 2016, while saving $510,000 in 2015.
OT Patrick Miller: The 49ers take on a $1,666 dead money hit in 2015, and a $3,334 dead money hit in 2016, while saving $435,000 in 2015.
OT Justin Renfrow: The 49ers saved $435,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.
ILB Nick Moody: The 49ers take on a $26,918 dead money hit in both 2015 and 2016, while saving $585,000 in 2015.
ILB Phillip Wheeler: The 49ers saved $1 million by releasing Wheeler. If they had kept him on the roster, they would have owed him a guaranteed $870,000 base salary for making the Week 1 roster, and another $130,000 Week 1 roster bonus.
CB Leon McFadden: The 49ers saved $585,000 in 2015, with no dead money hit.