49ers clear $23.2 million in cap space by restructuring George Kittle and Trent Williams’s contracts

The 49ers needed every salary cap dollar available to finalize a contract extension for Nick Bosa. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said the tea was clearing cap space on veteran contracts ahead of the Bosa deal, and on Wednesday night, ESPN’s Field Yates clarified who those players were.

The Niners cleared more than $23.3 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of George Kittle and Trent Williams. Generally, when this happens, the 49ers convert the players' full base salary into a signing bonus. For Williams, that number is $18.3 million, while it’s $10.5 million for Kittle.

Per Over the Cap, restructuring Kittle’s deal saves the 49ers $9.2 million in 2024, $8.8 million in 2025, and only $80,000 in 2023.

As for Williams, and his restructure, that number is still $80,000 for this season, but it’s over $14.2 million in 2024 and 2025, and $15.5 million in 2026.

Why restructure Kittle and Williams? The 49ers likely needed the money to front-load Bosa’s deal. Because if that wasn’t the case, judging by how they generally structure the first year of contracts, the Niners would have roughly $30 million in cap space for 2023, and that’d carry over into next year. So we’ll see what Bosa’s base salary turns out to be in 2023.

As it stands, assuming Bosa’s salary didn’t go down, the 49ers are looking at around $13 million in space as of right now, per Over the Cap.