San Francisco 49ers 2023 Salary Cap Overview

The 49ers have proved to be an elite-level team and real Super Bowl contenders as they are off to a hot start in the 2023 season. Here’s a look at how GM John Lynch and the front office built the current roster.

Finding diamond in the rough QB Brock Purdy has played a major part in the roster moves the 49ers have been making. While they will most likely sign him to an extension in the future (CBA restricts an extension no sooner than the conclusion of the 2024 season), the 49ers can spend elsewhere and save cash for future contracts.

Here’s a look at where the 49ers are spending their cap dollars on each side of the ball.

Breaking it down into positions, the 49ers have invested the most in their defensive line. They are currently spending the third most cap dollars in the NFL on their defensive line. The contracts of Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa account for nearly 52% of their defensive line cap spending.

As stated before, the rookie contract of Brock Purdy has allowed the 49ers to allocate cash elsewhere. Their three quarterbacks only account for 2.96% of their total cap. This will change in a couple of years as the 49ers will likely extend Purdy but for now, the 49ers are trying to do what every team dreams of, winning a Super Bowl with a quarterback on a rookie contract.

Here’s the full chart showing their cap spending broken down into positions.

Player Profiles

The players below have had varying impacts on the 49ers salary cap. Quarterback Brock Purdy’s contract has allowed San Francisco to be more flexible in other areas. Williams, McCaffrey, Bosa, Wagner, and Hargrave have all commanded significant contracts which will limit what the 49ers can do in the future. Some of these contracts will take massive jumps in cap hits in the coming years. However, the 49ers have done a great job at saving cap space for the 2023 season to roll over into the 2024 offseason giving them even more flexibility. All of these players have a significant impact on the 49ers on-field performance, so it’s hard to say they aren’t worth what they’re getting paid. It’s a challenge to balance star players’ contracts as San Francisco values both financial responsibility and on-field success.

2023 Cap Totals

Conclusion

While GM John Lynch and Co. have done a great job at building an elite-level roster with tons of talent, there will be important decisions that need to be made in the future. The cap space that has been created this season is to create room for future years. Players like Bosa, McCaffrey, Kittle, Williams, Armstead, Warner, etc. all will have increasing cap hits next season that will make things difficult for San Francisco in the coming years. Then they will need to deal with the contract of QB Brock Purdy. He will likely get a decently sized extension. More restructures are on the way, and we could potentially see players dealt to other teams to create cap space.