49ers’ title window might not last long
The 49ers’ Super Bowl window is open in 2020.
Good thing, because their championshipcaliber roster might need to be overhauled in 2021.
General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan met virtually with reporters Monday for the first time since training camp opened last week and discussed how the coronavirus pandemic will impact meetings, practices and routines this season.
But perhaps the most notable takeaway from the 30minute session was this: The acknowledgment that the financial impact of the pandemic on the NFL’s future salary caps means the 49ers must rip up their longterm master plan.
“For us, the biggest challenge was we were set up with a really good roster, but we had set it up such that we really felt it was sustainable,” Lynch said. “I think it’s still sustainable. We’re going to have to get creative, though. We have to figure some things out.”
The 49ers are set up for success this season.
They return 18 of 22 starters from a 133 NFC champion team whose three regular season losses came in the final five seconds of regulation or overtime.
However, with a steep decline in NFL revenue expected this season, the owners and players union agreed last month to spread out the losses over the next three salary caps.
The salary cap is $198.2 million this season but could drop to $175 million in 2021. It was projected to rise to about $215 million in 2021 before the pandemic.
The 49ers didn’t budget for this. So how to deal with $40 million less in cap space when their roster is loaded with
players who soon will command lavish salaries?
“Is it going to be a challenge?” Lynch said. “Absolutely.”
Indeed, according to OverTheCap.com, the 49ers have just more than $170 million in salary commitments in 2021, which could give them less than $5 million in cap space if the cap is set at the floor of $175 million.
And that’s without signing AllPro tight end George Kittle to an extension this season that figures to dwarf the average annual salary ($10.5 million) of the NFL’s highestpaid tight end. And that’s with three Pro Bowl players — cornerback Richard Sherman, left tackle Trent Williams and fullback Kyle Juszczyk — scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in 2021. And that’s with strong safety Jaquiski Tartt, slot cornerback K’Waun Williams and wide receiver Kendrick Bourne also in the final year of their contracts.
The 49ers certainly will part with some undercontract players after the season to create cap space. One candidate is pass rusher Dee Ford, whose release would create $12.8 million in cap room. However, Ford, who was limited by a knee injury throughout 2019, is a Pro Bowler who plays a premium position and collected 6.5 sacks in 226 snaps last season.
If the 49ers end up parting with players such as Ford and can’t retain several key free agents, could their wideopen Super Bowl window close far sooner than expected?
The good news for them: Plenty of teams will be in the same predicament.
The 49ers’ $170.1 million in cap commitments for 2021 is a figure eclipsed by 15 teams. The Eagles ($266.2 million) and Saints ($249.9 million), NFC rivals who won division titles last year, are among those with far worse future financial migraines.
However, the 49ers’ biggest rival, the Seahawks ($157.1 million), could be in a slightly better cap position next year.
“I guess if there’s any good news, it’s that everybody else wasn’t immune to that same uncertainty,” Lynch said. “We’re all playing from the same rules. Are certain teams better positioned to stomach that? Probably. But we’ll figure it out. We’re confident that we will.”