While the San Francisco 49ers aren’t exactly swimming in salary cap space (they’re just $8.16M under the cap), the good news is they don’t have many areas of need to address.
In fact, it could be argued that the 49ers have one of the better returning rosters heading into 2023.
Below are three potential players the 49ers could cut to create more cap space:
Arik Armstead, defensive end
If the 49ers are going to dole out a $23.99M cap hit for a defensive end, it should be for one who is capable of producing near double-digit sacks consistently.
While Armstead is by no means a bad player, he only has one season of 10 or more sacks in his eight years in San Francisco. He was also limited to just nine games this season, producing only 11 tackles and zero sacks.
The 49ers by no means need Armstead either. Their top four leading sackers in 2020 were all defensive ends, and the team has Nick Bosa and 2022 second-round pick Drake Jackson under contract next season.
Plus it wouldn’t be surprising to see them re-sign at least one of Charles Omenihu (62 pressures, seven sacks), Samson Ebukam (50 pressures, six sacks) or Jordan Willis (14 pressures, two sacks).
The 49ers will take a $7.6M hit in dead money by releasing Armstead, but they’d save $16.38M with a post-June 1 release.
Oren Burks, linebacker
Aside from Armstead, there are not many players with large cap hits in danger of being cut. And the $2.5M San Francisco would save by cutting Burks post-June 1 may not seem like much, but that could pay the salary of a depth piece needed next season.
Burks carries a $2.7M cap hit and it would only cost $273K in dead money to part ways with him.
Linebacker is one of San Francisco’s strongest positions with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw leading the way. Azeez Al-Shaair has also been a key contributor and the 49ers could opt to re-sign him for the sake of cutting a player like Burks.
Kyle Juszczyk, fullback
There’s no question Juszczyk is an integral part of the 49ers offensive game plan. He can handle short-yardage carries, catch the ball out of the backfield, throw a block when needed and even split out wide at receiver.
But a $6.56M cap hit is awfully high for a full back, especially one who’s 31 and has only scored four or more touchdowns twice in his 10-year NFL career.
There will be cheaper free agent options like Derek Watt or Khari Blasingame on the open market. Cutting Juszczyk post-June 1 would cost $2.58M in dead money but save $3.97M.
