The San Francisco 49ers are making a significant change to Deebo Samuel’s contract before the 2024 regular season begins later this week. After locking down both WR Brandon Aiyuk and OT Trent Williams, the 49ers are freeing up cap space by restructuring Samuel’s deal.
The move was first reported on September 3 when ESPN reporter Field Yates announced several restructures across the league.
“The 49ers restructured the contract of WR Deebo Samuel, creating $16.4M in cap space,” Yates wrote on X. “The Ravens restructured the contracts of DT Nnamdi Madubuike, K Justin Tucker and LB Roquan Smith, creating $9.3M in cap space. The Jets restructured the contracts of LB Quincy Williams and TE Tyler Conklin, creating $8M in cap space.”
Considering that San Francisco just signed Williams to a new deal, reworking Samuel’s deal to free up space only makes sense. However, the 49ers were more liquid coming into September 3 than some may realize.
Additional context on Williams’ deal from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero shows that the 49ers have benefitted from their rollover cap from last year.
“How are the #49ers affording to get all these contracts done?” Pelissero wrote. “Believe it or not, they entered today with an NFL-high $50 million in 2024 cap space, thanks largely to a league-high rollover of unused cap from 2023. The beauty of having a top QB making under $1 million.”
