On Monday morning, the San Francisco 49ers owned about $3 million in salary-cap space, ranking them near the bottom of the league in available money to spend on their roster. Then by Monday afternoon, San Francisco had over $21 million in salary-cap space. They got there by keeping Jimmy Garoppolo, the quarterback they had hoped all offseason to trade.
Holding onto Garoppolo, shockingly, worked out financially for the 49ers because they restructured the quarterback's one-year deal, shrinking his $24.2 million base salary to a more manageable $6.5 million, all guaranteed. The quarterback can make $500,000 more in roster bonuses. Still, $7 million is a significant drop from his previous cap hit.
There's potential for even more money. Garoppolo has another nearly $9 million in play-time bonuses built into his deal, increasing his potential income in 2022 to almost $16 million. That's not bad money for a backup quarterback, and Garoppolo doesn't have to learn a new system with the start of the regular season around the corner.
The savings catapults San Francisco up the salary-cap rankings. The team now has the fifth-most money available heading into Week 1.
Below are the five teams with the most salary-cap space in the NFL, per Over The Cap.
NFL suspends 49ers offensive lineman for six games
By David Bonilla
Apr 16
The NFL has suspended San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Isaac Alarcón for six games without pay for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The NFL announced a six-game suspension without pay for 49ers OL Isaac Alarcon or violating the...
PFF outlines worst-case scenario for 49ers in 2025 NFL Draft
By David Bonilla
Apr 21
Pro Football Focus (PFF) contributor Bradley Locker recently examined the worst-case scenarios for all 32 teams in the 2025 NFL Draft. For the San Francisco 49ers, he focused on the team's most pressing offseason need—rebuilding a depleted defensive line. According to...
49ers and the NFL Draft: What you see is not always what you get
By Jack Stewart
Apr 19
Vegas gives you the odds, but I am not a betting man. So I will give you the percentages.
In his time as general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, John Lynch has made 65 selections in the NFL draft. Of those, I count 16 obvious successes (or look-to-be successes), or roughly...
49ers GM John Lynch speaks ahead of 2025 NFL Draft
By Site Staff
4 hrs
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with reporters as the team prepares for the 2025 NFL Draft. Here is everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Alright, first thing, hopefully everybody had...