As the 49ers move through the NFL offseason, plenty of questions abound about keeping their core group of offensive playmakers together.
Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco on the latest “49ers Talk,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio explained why he believes the team will hold steady for next season in terms of their roster, due mainly to quarterback Brock Purdy remaining on his rookie contract.
“Well, this is the last year of Brock Purdy on a bargain basement contract,” Florio said. “When you look at some of the cap numbers that are out there for the guys they’ve already signed, and we know that teams can create cap space whenever they want to or however they want to, restructure a contract.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“Most of the contracts now have an automatic provision in there that allows the team to restructure if it sees fit.”
Florio then went on to describe how many of San Francisco’s superstar playmakers will need new contracts at some point, but not for next season.
“You’ve got a big cap number for George Kittle; you’ve got a big cap number for Deebo Samuel," Florio continued. "I think at some point Christian McCaffrey is going to be looking for a recalibration of his deal. So, I think they’d like to get through this year with Brandon Aiyuk where he is and then deal with it next year.”
Aiyuk has been the center of contract controversy this offseason, with some cryptic comments and social media posts from his entourage hinting that he is not satisfied with his current contract.
San Francisco 49ers
Florio pointed out that the contracts of Aiyuk, Samuel, Kittle and McCaffrey will not be able to fit under the salary cap in later seasons, so the 49ers will have hard decisions to make.
“Because I think next year is the year you’ve got to make choices: Is it going to be Kittle gone? Is it going to be Deebo gone? Is it going to be Aiyuk gone in free agency? Because next year they’ve got to deal with Brock Purdy," Florio said.
In Florio’s opinion, the best thing would be for the 49ers to keep everything the same for the 2024 NFL season, and hold off on a new deal for Aiyuk -- though if the star receiver wants to get paid now, it could make for some hard choices on who to keep.
“So, I think they’d like to keep the band together for one more year before they make hard decisions," Florio said. "If Aiyuk wants his deal now, it might force them a year early to make tough decisions.”
The 49ers have benefitted from Purdy’s impressive quarterback play during his first two seasons in the league, as his rookie contract is so small it has allowed the team to stack plenty of offensive weaponry around the young signal-caller.
However, Purdy will be due for a big payday after the 2024 season, so it’s unlikely that San Francisco will be able to keep everyone together for more than one more campaign.