Examining the 49ers’ financial situation — and Kittle’s deal — before they pay Purdy

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While we continue to wait for Brock Purdy and the 49ers to reach an agreement on a new contract, a bigger-picture look at the team’s finances is in order. The 49ers have been busy on the bookkeeping front to begin this month, re-signing star tight end George Kittle to another record-breaking contract while inking more than a dozen newcomers to their rookie deals.

All told, our calculations currently have the 49ers with about $37 million of 2025 salary-cap space on a projected 53-man roster, a number which would give them operational flexibility this season. Their key for Purdy’s contract will be to reach an agreement that packs similar flexibility in future seasons, where the 49ers have deferred a large percentage of cap hits. With the spending limit annually increasing in conjunction with NFL revenue, the 49ers can continue surfing the wave of the rising cap — even with Purdy’s presumably huge deal on the books.

Kittle’s new contract, a new high-water mark for the tight end position that left all parties satisfied, offers another example of the techniques the 49ers will use to fit Purdy’s deal.

Prorated signing (PRTD SB) and option bonuses (OPT BON) are shaded above. This salary-cap amortization, as explained below, is the key 49ers’ technique when crafting big contracts to fit under the cap.

Kittle, 31, signed for $35 million in new guaranteed money — essentially two fully secured years. That’s a big upgrade over Kittle’s prior setup, which saw him entering the lame-duck year of his old contract with no guaranteed money remaining. Kittle’s agent, Jack Bechta, maneuvered for the deal to be technically worth $19.1 million annually, which edges out the $19 million APY pact that Trey McBride reached with the Arizona Cardinals just about a month prior.

The 49ers, meanwhile, found a way to give Kittle that No. 1 title without overcommitting into the deal’s later years. The amount of money scheduled to come Kittle’s way in 2029, $22.4 million, was carefully tailored to push the APY over McBride’s. But none of that money, which would be paid out when Kittle is 36, is guaranteed. So the 49ers now have five years of contractual control at the cost of only two years of financial commitment. That’s the best possible deal a team can hope to get for a future Hall of Famer who’s still very much in his prime.

Furthermore, Kittle’s new contract actually reduces his 2025 cap hit by about $8 million. All five years of the deal feature a veteran minimum base salary and instead pay out the majority of salary through option bonuses, which offer the possibility to prorate cap hits over up to five years — and on a staggered basis that stretches Kittle’s cap impact all the way through 2033. That’s four years after his contract expires.

Although the 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles have been on the cutting edge of pushing salary into multiple amortized bonuses and void years, this five-bonus maneuver with Kittle is actually unprecedented. Chief negotiator Paraag Marathe and cap experts Brian Hampton and Jeffrey Diamond have truly stretched the technique to its max this time.

And why not? It’s a tried-and-true method without downside for the 49ers. They are happy to take out what are, in effect, zero-interest loans against the cap, and they’ll certainly do the same — while substituting in larger numbers — once Purdy’s deal is finalized.

Rookie deals are easier to execute because they’re pre-slotted by the NFL’s rookie wage scale. So there’s not much wiggle room for negotiation. An exception comes with first-round picks, because the rookie wage scale dictates that their contracts — unlike those in lower rounds — are fully guaranteed. Agents and teams, then, sometimes haggle over the particulars of contract offset language in these cases.

So far, the 49ers have signed eight of their 11 draft picks:

Here’s what the largest signed contract so far looks like:

Deals decrease in value as the draft progresses. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke, in comparison to Martin, has a signing bonus of only about $134,000 as a seventh-round pick.

The three defensive linemen the 49ers have drafted — first-rounder Mykel Williams, second-rounder Alfred Collins and fourth-rounder CJ West — have yet to finalize their deals, but all can sign waivers to participate in the offseason program before they do. Both Williams and West practiced during last week’s rookie minicamp; Collins observed from the sideline as he deals with a minor calf issue.

The entire 49ers’ draft class will cost about $15.3 million in 2025 salary-cap space — if all 11 players make the 53-man roster. It’s been accounted for in our salary-cap tracker, which has the 49ers at that $37 million of projected space. A backloaded new deal for Purdy, the details of which we projected earlier this offseason, would likely raise the quarterback’s 2025 cap hit from its current $5.4 million to about $15 million.

Expect the 49ers, then, to enter the 2025 season with about $25 million of salary-cap space. And remember that unused space rolls over from season to season. Leaving carryover room is a big part of the 49ers’ long-term plans.

Wideout Gabe Davis is visiting the 49ers’ facility on Monday, according to a league source. The Jacksonville Jaguars released the 26-year-old with a failed physical designation last week. Davis is still recovering from surgery after he tore his meniscus in November.

The 49ers, of course, would have to be comfortable with the status of Davis’ knee in order to offer him a contract. But they’re certainly interested in adding another veteran receiver. Brandon Aiyuk, who’s recovering from ACL and MCL tears, may not be ready for the start of the season and there’s also a chance the league may suspend free-agent signee DeMarcus Robinson, who was arrested on suspicion of DUI while with the Los Angeles Rams in December.

Only Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing, and the rookie Watkins seem like safe 53-man roster projections for Week 1 at this point. Second-year wideout Terique Owens may have an opportunity to earn at least a temporary spot. Isaiah Neyor, an undrafted receiver who has one of the most impressive physical profiles of any 2025 rookie, also has a chance.

But there’s undoubtedly room for another proven receiver. That’s where the 6-foot-2 Davis, who averaged 683 receiving yards per season over four years with the Buffalo Bills before joining Jacksonville, would come in. It’s also worth noting that veteran wideout Amari Cooper remains a free agent.