The NFL on Thursday sent a memo to teams that said the salary cap floor would be increased to $180 million for the 2021 season. While it’s a small bit of good news, it’s still good news for the 49ers and the impending salary cap gymnastics they’ll have to swing in free agency.
Prior to last season, the NFL and the NFL Players’ Association agreed to a salary cap floor of $175 million as they braced for the long-term financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams can typically rely on the cap to jump roughly $10 million every year. A $175 million floor would’ve been a $23 million dip from 2020 and left the 49ers with around $9 million in cap space.
Now the NFL has reset the floor at $180 million, which would leave San Francisco with $12,670,669 in available space. That number will jump up once they’ve made some cuts and roster restructures to free up some additional room.
General manager John Lynch told reporters after the season that the team was planning on a $175 million cap.
“We’re operating under the premise of the floor, which is 175 (million),” Lynch said in his end-of-season video conference. “We felt like that was best to operate off of that and kind of formulate our plans off of that. If it’s anything on top, that’s gravy for us.”
The additional $5 million will be advantageous in terms of working out their free agent situation, but it’s also a sign that the cap could come in a touch higher than $180 million.
Either way maneuvering won’t be easy for the 49ers this offseason. It’s the first time they’ve really been up against the cap with good players like Trent Williams, K’Waun Williams and Kyle Juszczyk all hitting free agency. They’ll need every last dollar they can get on the cap, and the NFL’s announcement of an increased cap floor gives them $5 million extra they didn’t plan on having.