The Niners may have to make some tough decisions this offseason with certain players under contract.
The San Francisco 49ers are headed to the 2025 offseason as they look to retool their coaching staff and roster after a disappointing 2024 campaign that ended in a 6-11 record.
It was an injury-ravaged year for the 49ers, as almost every one of their stars missed at least one game, while several missed a handful this season, leading to a tough overall year for the team.
Now looking into 2025, with the core of players getting older, the 49ers will have some tough decisions to make this offseason. Some of those include potential cap casualties, which are common across every team in the NFL ahead of the new league year in March.
For the 49ers, who could be some of those cap casualties this offseason?
FB Kyle Juszczyk
There was a real chance that fullback Kyle Juszczyk could’ve been a cap casualty last offseason as he and the 49ers were engaged in a number of discussions before finally agreeing to a paycut for the 2024 season.
After lowering his cap hit last offseason, Juszczyk’s hit for the 2025 season stands at $6.5 million, which is too high for a 34-year-old fullback.
The 49ers could save nearly $3 million in cap savings if they move off Juszczyk’s contract this offseason, which could be valuable as they retool their roster this offseason and move in a younger direction.
A possible restructure like last offseason could be in the cards as well, but it feels unlikely that Juszczyk will enter the 2025 season with his $6.5 million cap hit.
S George Odum
The 49ers extended special-teamer George Odum to a two-year, $7.5 million contract last offseason. But, that doesn’t mean that they won’t consider making a move this offseason, as the financials could make sense.
Odum, entering his age-32 season in 2025, has a cap hit of $3.87 million next season, and could save $1.5 million if he were cut prior to the new year.
The cost here isn’t significant and the 49ers will want to make investments in special teams after another disappointing year on that front, but they could go in a younger direction at the position, which could lead to Odum being a cap casualty.
San Francisco could see an entire revamp of the safety room next season with Talanoa Hufanga scheduled to be a free agent. Odum could be a part of that, especially if the 49ers continue looking into younger options across the board.
DT Jordan Elliott
The 49ers signed Elliott to a two-year, $10 million deal last offseason, but the defensive tackle wasn’t a major impact addition in 2024. Dealing with injuries, Elliott never really made his way in San Francisco and couldn’t help improve a struggling run defense enough.
Looking ahead to 2025, Elliott has a cap hit of $3.4 million, and nearly half of that could become savings if the 49ers release the defensive tackle ahead of the new year.
Elliott is only 27 and the 49ers do like depth along the defensive line. But, they could look for a more impactful option and take their savings where they can get them after an uneventful 2024 season.
DE Drake Jackson
Drake Jackson has become one of the more disappointing draft additions over the past few years for the 49ers. After being taken in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Jackson dealt with a body change his first offseason, never found consistency on the field, and dealt with a few injuries that kept him on Injured Reserve.
When things don’t pan out, the 49ers have shown they’ll cut their losses and move forward. That makes sense with Jackson in 2025, who has a $1.87 million cap hit, but only $366,344 of that would end up as dead cap.
So, the 49ers can save over $1.5 million and create a roster spot for a better fit. That makes sense to do here ahead of the new league year.
Outside possibilities
Two veteran starters with an outside chance to be potential cap casualties are center Jake Brendel and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The 49ers signed Brendel to a four-year, $20 million extension two offseasons ago and then restructured his contract, leaving him with a $3.785 million cap hit for the 2025 season.
With Brendel, the center play has not been great over the last two years, as the 49ers have really struggled to run the ball through their interior offensive line, while the pass protection has also been inconsistent.
San Francisco needs an upgrade at center, which could come in the building or via free agency, as head coach Kyle Shanahan has usually preferred a veteran presence at the position.
But, I’m not sure they’d release Brendel, who has a $5.378 million dead cap hit this offseason, meaning the 49ers would actually lose savings if they let him go. An option is a post-June 1st cut, spreading the dead cap hit over two offseasons.
The other player is Deebo Samuel, but that seems like an outside shot after general manager John Lynch shut that down at the team’s exit interviews.
Releasing Samuel outright doesn’t make sense, but the 49ers could look to involve him in trade discussions for the second consecutive offseason, as teams could be more willing to talk about a deal with the wideout having only one year left on his contract.
There are a number of cap casualty possibilities as San Francisco looks to create a favorable situation for themselves ahead of free agency. Restructures are always a possibility as well, with the 49ers constantly using them to create more cap space for the current year.
There’s much ahead over the next two months as San Francisco looks to retool the roster. We’ll see if they’re willing to make bolder moves or instead look to go younger this offseason as they aim to return to contention.