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The reality of the 2021 cap crunch finally began to hit teams with the conclusion of training camp. Teams like the 49ers, who were sat comfortably above $10 million in cap space, saw it shrink into the low single digits following roster cuts, injury moves and bonuses.
Another recently reworked deal to create cap space for in-season management: the 49ers converted about $7.8M of S Jimmie Ward’s 2021 compensation into a bonus, resulting in about $5.85M of space. San Francisco is at about $7.3M in space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 10, 2021
The two other clear options the 49ers had were to restructure or guarantee additional base salary to Arik Armstead’s contract — which could have created upwards of $5.6 million depending on the bonus money involved — or extend Laken Tomlinson and lessen his cap burden for this season by roughly $3.7 million. The Ward option was the most productive and his deal is shorter than Armstead’s.
49ers general manager John Lynch will likely address the move when he joins the Murph and Mac Show on KNBR at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Listen here.
