49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman has restructured his contract to create some 2014 cap space for the club, reports Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links). According to Yates, Bowman has reduced his base salary to the minimum ($730K), converting $3.27MM into a signing bonus.
The move is a win-win for both Bowman and the Niners, since it creates cap space for the team while ensuring Bowman of a larger upfront guarantee. That new $3.27MM signing bonus will be prorated over the next five seasons, at a rate of $654K annually. While that increases Bowman’s future cap hits a little, it creates $2.616MM in cap savings for San Francisco in 2014.
Bowman’s cap number for ’14 is now just $4.434MM, a great price for a player who has earned a spot on the NFL’s All-Pro team for three straight seasons. 2013 may have been the best year yet for the former third-round pick, who racked 180 tackles, six forced fumbles, five sacks, and a pair of interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
Over The Cap’s most recent data recently suggests that the Niners were only under the cap by about $656K, so reworking Bowman’s deal could help create room to sign 2014’s draft picks without necessarily needing to wait for post-June 1 cut Carlos Rogers to come off the books.