The San Francisco 49ers are moving forward with the assumption that this year's salary cap will be set at $175 million. It will probably be a bit higher, but general manager John Lynch would rather start with the floor.
"Anything that we get (above $175 million), I think, is going to be a bonus and gravy, and will help us," John Lynch told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on The TK Show podcast. "But if it's 175, we'll make it work, and I think we can keep a lot of these players together. You can't keep everyone, but I think we can prioritize. We'll have a very good plan, and I feel really good about our team, moving forward."
Of course, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's salary-cap hit is the largest on the team. He is set to eat up an average of about $26.6 million over the next two seasons. A lot has been said about the amount of money the 49ers could save by walking away from Garoppolo's contract. The team could also gain some breathing room by restructuring the deal.
Lynch was asked if he sees any need to restructure Garoppolo's contract.
"Not as of right now," Lynch responded. "You always have these plans. You think they'll come to fruition, but I remember our thinking when we made him the [highest-paid player] on a very small sample size. Our thinking was that the quarterback market was just ripe to explode, and it was going to happen.
"And I remember some of the conversations. 'In two years, he could be 10th in the league.' And sure enough, I think he sits there just off the average per year — there's different ways of looking at these contracts. I believe he's 12th, 13th (he ranks No. 12 in average salary).
"Yeah, we feel good about Jimmy's contract, and if needed, there could be some adjustments. But right now, we're good."
Of course, all of this could be meaningless if someone catches head coach Kyle Shanahan's eye in the quarterback market. San Francisco would absorb just a $2.8 million salary-cap hit should the team trade or release Garoppolo, creating about $23.4 million in cap space.
