Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to rework right guard Tom Compton’s contract. Compton, who was scheduled to have a base salary of $2.15 million, will now make $1.05 million in 2020. The 49ers are converting $1.10 million of Compton’s base salary into bonuses. Those bonuses are “not likely to be earned,” which means they don’t count against the salary cap for 2020. Compton’s contract has a $400,00 per-game roster bonus this season. Compton’s guaranteed salary is $750,000 for 2020. One thing that’s clear: Compton will be on the roster come Week 1.
Whenever the team reworks a player’s salary, the initial question is, “who are they making room for?” In this instance, I doubt it’s anybody. Perhaps the team picks up a player off the waiver wire at some point over the next few days, but this isn’t a move that the 49ers will use to free up some cash and turn around and sign a big-name free agent.
This also means that Daniel Brunskill will start at right guard once Ben Garland returns to the lineup. Kyle Shanahan said the team never had a chance to have a true battle as Brunskill had to bounce back and forth between center and right guard. Brunskill outplayed Compton, and it wasn’t particularly close. I asked Mike McGlinchey how difficult it was for a player to bounce back and forth between positions every day and how he could help a younger player like Brunskill become more comfortable. Here’s what Mike said:
“Dan’s a football player. He understands that his role is to fill in wherever he’s needed...”
— Fourth and Nine (@fourth_nine) September 3, 2020
Mike McGlinchey talks about Dan Brunskill’s versatility along the offensive line. #49ers
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