The deadline passed for Kirk Cousins to sign a contract extension, and so we are left to wait until next offseason for this drama to play out. The San Francisco 49ers will have plenty of cap space next offseason if they want to pursue Cousins, but how much exactly?
Training camp gets going in nine days, and we’ll continue the process of figuring out the 49ers 53-man roster. With that and the Cousins issue in mind, I thought I’d take a look at a projected 53-man roster and the accompanying salary cap implications. Below I’ve outlined a possible 53-man roster, followed by what the 49ers salary cap will look like this year and next year. That reflects players on the roster, and dead money from roster cuts in the next month and a half. This will help us get an idea where the 49ers are situated when 2018 free agency arrives.
QB (3): Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, C.J. Beathard
RB (4): Carlos Hyde, Joe Williams, Kapri Bibbs, Matt Breida
FB (1): Kyle Juszycyk
WR (5): Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Jeremy Kerley, Aldrick Robinson, Trent Taylor
TE (4): Vance McDonald, George Kittle, Logan Paulsen, Cole Hikutini
C (2): Jeremy Zuttah, Daniel Kilgore
OG (3): Zane Beadles, Joshua Garnett, Brandon Fusco
OT (3): Joe Staley, Trent Brown, Garry Gilliam
DL (8): Solomon Thomas, Arik Armstead, Elvis Dumervil, DeForest Buckner, Ronald Blair, Earl Mitchell, D.J. Jones, Quinton Dial
LB (7): NaVorro Bowman, Malcolm Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Reuben Foster, Dekoda Watson, Brock Coyle, Ray-Ray Armstrong
CB (5): Rashard Robinson, Ahkello Witherspoon, K’Wuan Williams, Will Redmond, Dontae Johnson
S (5): Jimmie Ward, Eric Reid, Lorenzo Jerome, Jaquiski Tartt, Don Jones
ST (3): Robbie Gould, Bradley Pinion, Kyle Nelson
With the above 53-man roster, the 49ers would have $126,789,266 committed to those players, and $15,690,574 in dead money left by 61 players. This would leave the 49ers at $63,641,595 under the 2017 salary cap.
The 49ers will also assemble a ten-man practice squad. Barring any higher than normal practice squad salaries, that would take up an addition $1.107 million of that money. The 49ers salary cap space is currently based on their top 51 salaries. After final cuts, the salary cap is based on every single person in the organization. That leaves the 49ers at approximately $62,534,595.
Plenty can and will change over the course of the year. Injuries happen, and for every player that ends up on injured reserve, someone has to replace them on the roster. Additionally, the 49ers could figure out contract extensions, which would impact the cap space. Usually teams set aside $5 million for that, although the number can vary.
Here is a salary cap chart with the above 53-man roster projection. It lists out every player with their cap hit, and is followed by all the dead money hits.
2017 cap implications of 2017 roster cuts
| Name | Pos. | Cap hit | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Pos. | Cap hit | Signed |
| Staley, Joe | LT | $11,056,250 | 2019 |
| Bowman, NaVorro | MLB | $9,591,500 | 2022 |
| Garçon, Pierre | WR | $6,425,000 | 2021 |
| Brooks, Ahmad | OLB | $6,148,750 | 2017 |
| Reid, Eric | SS | $5,676,000 | 2017 |
| Hoyer, Brian | QB | $5,275,000 | 2018 |
| Thomas, Solomon | DE | $5,118,978 | 2020 |
| McDonald, Vance | TE | $4,165,625 | 2021 |
| Buckner, DeForest | DT | $4,134,316 | 2019 |
| Beadles, Zane | LG | $4,033,333 | 2018 |
| Juszczyk, Kyle | FB | $3,750,000 | 2020 |
| Smith, Malcolm | OLB | $3,684,375 | 2021 |
| Zuttah, Jeremy | C | $3,500,000 | 2018 |
| Dumervil, Elvis | DE | $3,375,000 | 2018 |
| Goodwin, Marquise | WR | $3,250,000 | 2018 |
| Mithcell, Earl | NT | $2,921,875 | 2020 |
| Dial, Quinton | NT | $2,756,750 | 2019 |
| Armstead, Arik | DE | $2,684,353 | 2018 |
| Ward, Jimmie | FS | $2,263,077 | 2018 |
| Gilliam, Garry | OT | $2,162,500 | 2017 |
| Garnett, Joshua | RG | $2,114,616 | 2019 |
| Kerley, Jeremy | WR | $2,016,666 | 2019 |
| Barkley, Matt | QB | $1,918,750 | 2018 |
| Robinson, Aldrick | WR | $1,800,000 | 2018 |
| Gould, Robbie | PK | $1,750,000 | 2018 |
| Kilgore, Daniel | C | $1,700,000 | 2017 |
| Foster, Reuben | OLB | $1,642,830 | 2020 |
| Watson, Dekoda | OLB | $1,533,333 | 2019 |
| Coyle, Brock | MLB | $1,450,000 | 2017 |
| Fusco, Brandon | LG | $1,400,000 | 2017 |
| Tartt, Jaquiski | SS | $1,373,731 | 2018 |
| Armstrong, Ray-Ray | OLB | $1,341,666 | 2018 |
| Hyde, Carlos | RB | $1,171,443 | 2017 |
| Nelson, Kyle | LS | $1,150,000 | 2018 |
| Paulsen, Logan | TE | $1,000,000 | 2017 |
| Jones, Don | FS | $981,250 | 2018 |
| Redmond, Will | CB | $834,019 | 2019 |
| Johnson, Dontae | CB | $790,136 | 2017 |
| Witherspoon, Ahkello | CB | $708,393 | 2020 |
| Williams, K'Wuan | CB | $765,000 | 2017 |
| Pinion, Bradley | P | $663,550 | 2018 |
| Beathard, C.J. | QB | $641,572 | 2020 |
| Robinson, Rashard | CB | $635,848 | 2019 |
| Brown, Trent | RT | $628,973 | 2018 |
| Williams, Joe | RB | $622,346 | 2020 |
| Bibbs, Kapri | RB | $615,000 | 2017 |
| Blair, Ronald | DE | $607,602 | 2019 |
| Kittle, George | TE | $539,574 | 2020 |
| Taylor, Trent | WR | $515,486 | 2020 |
| Jones, D.J. | NT | $501,967 | 2020 |
| Hikutini, Cole | TE | $468,333 | 2019 |
| Jerome, Lorenzo | FS | $467,833 | 2019 |
| Breida, Matt | RB | $466,666 | 2019 |
| Torrey Smith | XX | $4,800,000 | Dead $ |
| Colin Kaepernick | XX | $2,465,753 | Dead $ |
| Tank Carradine | XX | $1,675,000 | Dead $ |
| Garrett Celek | XX | $1,675,000 | Dead $ |
| Antoine Bethea | XX | $1,250,000 | Dead $ |
| Tramaine Brock | XX | $750,000 | Dead $ |
| Bruce Miller | XX | $446,500 | Dead $ |
| Tim Hightower | XX | $332,000 | Dead $ |
| Mike Davis | XX | $234,390 | Dead $ |
| Eli Harold | XX | $189,343 | Dead $ |
| DeAndre Smelter | XX | $172,844 | Dead $ |
| Marcus Martin | XX | $167,813 | Dead $ |
| Fahn Cooper | XX | $138,288 | Dead $ |
| Brandon Thomas | XX | $126,504 | Dead $ |
| Blake Bell | XX | $126,283 | Dead $ |
| Bruce Ellington | XX | $118,607 | Dead $ |
| Jeff Driskel | XX | $84,405 | Dead $ |
| Kelvin Taylor | XX | $75,267 | Dead $ |
| John Theus | XX | $64,403 | Dead $ |
| Eric Rogers | XX | $62,500 | Dead $ |
| Ian Silberman | XX | $60,838 | Dead $ |
| Jimmie Gilbert | XX | $54,000 | Dead $ |
| Chris Jones | XX | $50,000 | Dead $ |
| Aaron Lynch | XX | $49,500 | Dead $ |
| Prince Charles Iworah | XX | $46,107 | Dead $ |
| Keith Reaser | XX | $41,200 | Dead $ |
| Victor Bolden | XX | $37,666 | Dead $ |
| Pita Taumoepenu | XX | $36,364 | Dead $ |
| Kenneth Acker | XX | $30,150 | Dead $ |
| Donavin Newsom | XX | $26,666 | Dead $ |
| Busta Anderson | XX | $26,392 | Dead $ |
| Aaron Burbridge | XX | $25,089 | Dead $ |
| DuJuan Harris | XX | $25,000 | Dead $ |
| Noble Nwachukwu | XX | $23,333 | Dead $ |
| Kendrick Bourne | XX | $21,666 | Dead $ |
| Adrian Colbert | XX | $21,200 | Dead $ |
| Tim Barnes | XX | $20,000 | Dead $ |
| Nick Mullens | XX | $18,666 | Dead $ |
| Malik Golden | XX | $13,000 | Dead $ |
| Erik Magnuson | XX | $11,333 | Dead $ |
| Jason Faniaka | XX | $10,000 | Dead $ |
| Alex Balducci | XX | $8,334 | Dead $ |
| Bret Treadway | XX | $7,500 | Dead $ |
| Colin Kelly | XX | $7,500 | Dead $ |
| Devon Cajuste | XX | $6,667 | Dead $ |
| Tyler McCloskey | XX | $6,666 | Dead $ |
| Darrell Williams | XX | $6,666 | Dead $ |
| Bryce Treggs | XX | $5,334 | Dead $ |
| Lenny Jones | XX | $5,334 | Dead $ |
| KD Cannon | XX | $5,000 | Dead $ |
| Evan Goodman | XX | $4,833 | Dead $ |
| Blake Muir | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| John Lunsford | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Norman Price | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Darren Lake | XX | $2,667 | Dead $ |
| DeAndrew White | XX | $2,334 | Dead $ |
| Dres Anderson | XX | $2,000 | Dead $ |
| Demetrius Cherry | XX | $1,667 | Dead $ |
| Jered Bell | XX | $1,667 | Dead $ |
| Wynton McManis | XX | $1,667 | Dead $ |
| John Flynn | XX | $1,666 | Dead $ |
Next up is the 2018 salary cap outlook based on this roster projection. The 49ers would have 42 players signed for 2018, counting $126,527,614 against the cap. They would have $1,947,351 in dead money for 19 players. This would leave the team with $49,525,035 under a $178 million salary cap projection for 2018.
They would be able to roll over their available cap space from this season. This number will change with injuries and extensions, but for this hypothetical, the total they could roll over is $62,534,595. That would give them $113,166,630 in cap space. So yes, they probably be able to afford a Kirk Cousins offer. They could very well front-load the deal to a certain extent and make it hard for Washington to match if the transition tag is involved, or if Cousins is simply an unrestricted free agent.
Here is the 49ers 2018 salary cap chart, similar to above with dead money listed after the players under contract.
2018 cap implications of 2017 roster cuts
| Name | Pos. | Cap hit | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Pos. | Cap hit | Signed |
| Bowman, NaVorro | MLB | $11,994,000 | 2022 |
| Garçon, Pierre | WR | $9,375,000 | 2021 |
| Ward, Jimmie | FS | $8,526,000 | 2018 |
| Staley, Joe | LT | $7,700,000 | 2019 |
| Hoyer, Brian | QB | $6,500,000 | 2018 |
| Thomas, Solomon | DE | $6,398,723 | 2020 |
| McDonald, Vance | TE | $6,000,000 | 2021 |
| Buckner, DeForest | DT | $4,961,179 | 2019 |
| Smith, Malcolm | OLB | $4,700,000 | 2021 |
| Juszczyk, Kyle | FB | $4,500,000 | 2020 |
| Dumervil, Elvis | DE | $4,250,000 | 2018 |
| Beadles, Zane | LG | $4,083,334 | 2018 |
| Mitchell, Earl | NT | $3,850,000 | 2020 |
| Dial, Quinton | NT | $3,706,750 | 2019 |
| Zuttah, Jeremy | C | $3,500,000 | 2018 |
| Armstead, Arik | DE | $3,131,745 | 2018 |
| Kerley, Jeremy | WR | $2,866,666 | 2019 |
| Goodwin, Marquise | WR | $2,750,000 | 2018 |
| Garnett, Joshua | RG | $2,537,539 | 2019 |
| Gould, Robbie | PK | $2,250,000 | 2018 |
| Robinson, Aldrick | WR | $2,200,000 | 2018 |
| Foster, Reuben | OLB | $2,053,538 | 2020 |
| Barkley, Matt | QB | $2,050,000 | 2018 |
| Tartt, Jaquiski | SS | $1,602,686 | 2018 |
| Watson, Dekoda | OLB | $1,583,333 | 2019 |
| Armstrong, Ray-Ray | OLB | $1,416,668 | 2018 |
| Jones, Don | FS | $1,200,000 | 2018 |
| Nelson, Kyle | LS | $1,150,000 | 2018 |
| Redmond, Will | CB | $968,985 | 2019 |
| Witherspoon, Ahkello | CB | $881,718 | 2020 |
| Pinion, Bradley | P | $753,550 | 2018 |
| Beathard, C.J. | QB | $731,572 | 2020 |
| Robinson, Rashard | CB | $725,848 | 2019 |
| Brown, Trent | RT | $718,973 | 2018 |
| Williams, Joe | RB | $712,346 | 2020 |
| Blair, Ronald | DE | $697,602 | 2019 |
| Kittle, George | TE | $629,574 | 2020 |
| Taylor, Trent | WR | $605,486 | 2020 |
| Jones, D.J. | NT | $591,967 | 2020 |
| Hikutini, Cole | TE | $558,333 | 2019 |
| Jerome, Lorenzo | FS | $557,833 | 2019 |
| Breida, Matt | RB | $556,666 | 2019 |
| Garrett Celek | XX | $1,250,000 | Dead $ |
| Eli Harold | XX | $174,343 | Dead $ |
| John Theus | XX | $128,806 | Dead $ |
| Blake Bell | XX | $126,283 | Dead $ |
| Pita Taumoepenu | XX | $109,902 | Dead $ |
| Adrian Colbert | XX | $63,500 | Dead $ |
| Aaron Burbridge | XX | $50,178 | Dead $ |
| Jimmie Gilbert | XX | $8,000 | Dead $ |
| Noble Nwachukwu | XX | $6,667 | Dead $ |
| Victor Bolden | XX | $5,334 | Dead $ |
| Donavin Newsom | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| John Flynn | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Kendrick Bourne | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Tyler McCloskey | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Darrell Williams | XX | $3,334 | Dead $ |
| Erik Magnuson | XX | $2,667 | Dead $ |
| Malik Golden | XX | $2,000 | Dead $ |
| Evan Goodman | XX | $1,667 | Dead $ |
| Nick Mullens | XX | $1,334 | Dead $ |
As always you can follow me on Twitter, @Jay_AB81, or check our salary cap section here, on Niners Nation, which is now officially the exclusive home for my salary cap information.