49ers Should Feel Fortunate That the Salary Cap Will not Take Dramatic Hit

If there was a dramatically lowered salary cap next season, then the 49ers would not be able to retain any their pending free agents.

Negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA regarding the pending salary cap hit has been finalized. 

Losses in revenue this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic are essentially guaranteed. What isn’t absolute or clear, and probably won’t be for a while, is how much of a loss it will be. Whatever that number is going to be, both the NFL and players union had their own ideas on how to handle it. 

Luckily for the San Franciso 49ers, it was the players' side that prevailed.

From the players side, they initially wanted to spread the hit out until 2030. That way there will be more employment for the players, because the cap will be somewhat close to its original projected number. 

On the owners' side, they want the hit over the course of the next two years. Their mindset is to get it over with and not have to worry about getting dinged down the line so they can put this all behind them. The issue with that is teams who’re already up against the cap, like the 49ers, would be pressed to cut costs around the team. 

This would make an extension with George Kittle insanely difficult, if not impossible, to produce. 

The two sides found common ground on Friday to spread the hit over the next four years. Because of that spread, the 49ers should feel fortunate that the salary cap will not take a dramatic hit. 

It is still taking a hit of course, but funneling it into two yeats would have derailed the 49ers' long-term success that they have been cultivating since 2017. 

San Francisco has assuredly been planning out their future with next year in mind. That is why they haven’t officially offered Kittle an extension yet. They’re trying to calculate everything without missing any detail. This is how they operate so they do not act rashly. 

If there was a dramatically lowered salary cap next season, then they would not be able to retain any their pending free agents. That means players like Richard Sherman, K’Waun Williams, Jaquiski Tartt, Kendrick Bourne, etc. are most likely gone.

Thankfully clearer heads took over in this as it would have forced teams to let go of multiple valued players. Not to mention the product on the field would have worsened without the luxury of having deep rosters. 

Even with the current hit the 49ers will take, it is at least at a point where they can manage it and keep the core of the team intact.