It turns out the NFL’s salary cap is, in fact, real.
While teams can manipulate numbers to make contracts work in one year, it typically means they’re going to wind up paying for such a maneuver down the line.
The 49ers are a prime example of that with their restructures of defensive end Dee Ford’s deal.
His multiple restructures helped alleviate some of his cap number while he was playing, but it pushed those salary cap hits into future years. Now they’re sitting right up against the cap in 2023 with one of their biggest cap hits belonging to Ford despite the fact he hasn’t played for the team since Week 7 of the 2021 season.
This is the last year the 49ers will have Ford counting against the cap, but it’s not going to come cheap. Here are the 49ers’ biggest cap hits in 2023 including Ford’s dead cap charge, and another dead cap charge from a player no longer with San Francisco:
(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
2023 cap number: $27,227,424
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
2023 cap number: $23,755,883
Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
2023 cap number: $18,033,751
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
2023 cap number: $17,859,000
Bosa’s cap number will likely drop once (if?) his extension gets signed.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
2023 cap number: $9,049,000
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
2023 cap number: $8,653,529
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
2023 cap number: $8,589,999
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
2023 cap number: $6,595,000
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
2023 cap number: $6,395,000
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
2023 cap number: $6,565,221
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
2023 cap number: $6,421,000