The San Francisco 49ers are set to receive $7 million in salary cap space in 2026 thanks to an insurance policy they took out in Nick Bosa’s five-year, $170 million contract extension he signed in 2024, per ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler:
“Bosa, 27, will need season-ending surgery once the swelling in the knee subsides, and the Niners will move forward without one of their defensive stalwarts and the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year,” Wagoner wrote. “The 49ers will get almost $7 million in salary cap relief in 2026 because of their insurance policy for a season-ending injury.”
According to Over the Cap, the 49ers currently have the fifth-most cap space in 2025, at $26.5 million. They also have the most dead money tied up at $99 million. That number drops significantly to $21.8 million in dead money next season, but so does the team’s available cap space. San Francisco will only have $13.8 million in cap space, as some of their core players’ contracts all spike next season. So that $7 million heading into the offseason should help the Niners add at least one player in free agency, if they elect to go down that route.
Kahler wrote an article at the beginning of the 2024 season stating why insuring star players has become the source of NFL tension. In that article, the New York Jets missed out on recouping up to $22 million in insurance proceeds when Aaron Rodgers essentially missed the entire season a couple of years ago. Teams like the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins did not make the same mistake when Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa went down with injuries. One executive claimed these insurance policies are a way to “create cap space out of thin air.”
Kahler’s article states roughly half of the NFL currently has an insurance policy on at least one player contract, and it’s generally their most expensive contract.
Bosa is one of those contracts that will spike in 2026. His base salary has been $1.1 million for the previous three seasons. However, that number is no longer a bargain in 2026, as the base salary jumps to $22.6 million. Bosa’s cap number more than doubles, going from $20.4 million to $42 million in 2026.
This is a mild relief/benefit for the 49ers. They’d rather have their most important player on the roster at that price than a salary cap relief that helps them bring in a potential replacement. There’s no replacing Nick Bosa. Everyone in the building knows that.
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