49ers rank fourth in most dead money over past four years

NFL free agency gets going in two weeks, with the new league year kicking off on March 13th. The San Francisco 49ers will be plenty busy as they continue their roster overhaul and work to get back into playoff contention.

It’s been a busy two years for Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, and their dead money situation reflects that. The 49ers have turned over much of the roster, and it is no surprise they are among the league leaders in dead money over the past few years. Over the Cap tracks dead money for all 32 teams, and they are currently fourth in dead money dating back to 2016.

The 49ers currently have $2,838,175 in dead money on their upcoming 2019 salary cap, but they will soon add $7.2 million in declining Pierre Garçon’s option, and another $1.5 million for parting ways with Earl Mitchell. Those are likely not the only releases that will happen, but that’s where they stand right now.

Even with all this dead money, the 49ers remain in solid cap shape. The cap has increased considerably, but more importantly, even with Trent Baalke making some bad decisions, Paraag Marathe’s work in contract negotiations has been top notch for the most part. It has put the team in a position to be aggressive in free agency and the trade market if they have players they value. It remains to be seen if we’ll see that kind of aggression this March, but even with a large chunk of dead money, the team is in good shape.