In recent months, the 49ers have made adjustments to the contracts for both wide receiver Deebo Samuel and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. Both contracts have notable potential outs following the 2024 NFL season, and it appears that San Francisco intends to act on one of those outs. According to general manager John Lynch, the 49ers plan to retain Samuel for the final year of his contract but will release Hargrave with a post-June 1 designation once the new league year starts in March. 
Samuel’s recent contract reconstruction resulted in a situation in which he would account for $31.55MM of dead money should he be cut or traded before June 1. A post-June 1 designation would reduce that dead money hit to $10.75MM and result in cap savings in 2025 of $5.21MM. If the team had not utilized the post-June 1 designation on Hargrave, his release would’ve resulted in $24.86MM of dead money, but with the designation, that number dips down to $7.38MM, resulting in $2.85MM of cap savings.
Samuel, who is turning 29 in a week, just concluded a disappointing, injury-plagued season. It continued a trend of what seems to be alternating years of health and production versus years of injuries and a lack of top-end production. Following the conclusion of his 2024 campaign, Samuel claimed he had “no questions at all” about his future in San Francisco.
Hargrave, 31, just finished an injury-plagued season himself, the first such season of his nine-year career. Following two Pro Bowl campaigns in the last three years, Hargrave only made an appearance in three games in 2024. Hargrave’s recent restructuring facilitated a smooth effecting of the potential out, knowing the strain his $47.86MM cap hit was set to put on the organization in 2026.
Lynch and the Niners made it sound as if they hope to potentially compete in Hargrave’s free agency, but Wagoner claims the reunion is an unlikely one unless Hargrave agrees to a significantly reduced contract. Look for the veteran defender to shop his talents around a bit before potentially committing to return with a pay cut.
I’d like to see Hargrave end up in Cincy. Obviously with a new defensive coordinator coming in we don’t know what the scheme will look like but it’s clear they need interior pass rushing by any means
Id sell low on Aiyuk and get out of that contract asap. Create as much financial wiggle room as you can and get as many picks as you can for 2026. Conditional picks that can increase in value dependent upon recovery and playing time for 2025.
You need money to pay Purdy
You have cheap options in Jennings and Pearsall to join Samuel.
They’ll need money to also fix that defense esp at LB.
Once Hargrave is gone and Kittle’s extension is done, they are going to be 70 million under the cap. They don’t even have to mess with Purdy’s contract if they don’t want to and have it all ride on the extension. I think they will add some money this year but the point being is they have cap room and they aren’t in danger of being handcuffed. Just because the average per year could be 50-60 million a year doesn’t mean all the cap hits will be that from here on out. More then likely, the big his won’t even start until 2027.
Aiyuk’s deal pretty much says he is here to stay for this year and they have an out after the 2025 season. Its all how Lynch planned it and worked it. Aiyuk will have to rebound and have a big year.
That’d be such a bad move. I’m not talking from a football standpoint but a PR stand point. It just says ‘sign a deal here and you have no clue whether you’ll be there in 6 months’
Teams cut and trade players all the time due to financial constraints. Everybody knows 49ers are having Saint issues with their finances.
What’s worse is constantly asking the guy to restructure his contract to create financial wiggle room for you the next 4 years cause their finances are a mess.
Yes they do, but not before they’ve paid a single penny of the extension though lol.
Gonna happen to Kirk Cousins too. Hes done in Atlanta so he’s either traded or more likely cut.
Yes. But a full year after he signed the deal… They didn’t sign Kirk and cut him 3 months later. Kirk played, didn’t contribute even close to what he’s paying paid, and a decision was made from there. Aiyuk got hurt. They’re not similar situations one bit.
Aiyuk played. 7 games. Got injured. Wasn’t even effective in 7 games. 25 catch 325 yards. Didn’t contribute close to what he was being paid.
Deebo is trash.