Niners Nation
Deebo Samuel and Leonard Floyd add up, but the 49ers are also still paying Arik Armstead.
The good news for the San Francisco 49ers is that they freed up some cap space now that we’re in June, making Bryce Huff’s contract easier to take on for the team.
The bad news for the 49ers is that they are paying more than $25 million than the next team in dead money this season, thanks in large part to the Deebo Samuel trade. According to Spotrac, San Francisco is on the hook for $34.1 million in dead money cap hits this season for Deebo.
Now that the post-June 1 transactions are complete, the list of NFL Dead Money Leaders is out, and the Niners are at the top of the list with room to spare. Here’s a list of the top five teams in terms of dead money for 2025:
49ers - $92.6m
Seahawks - $67.4m
Eagles - $67.4m
Jaguars - $64.6m
Jets - $62.7m
According to Over the Cap, the 49ers still have over $15 money in dead money to pay to Arik Armstead. It doesn’t stop there. The releases of Leonard Floyd ($8.6 million in dead money), Javon Hargrave ($6.7m), Mitch Wishnowsky ($3.2m), De’Vondre Campbell ($2.6m), and Maliek Collins ($1.3m) are all costing the 49ers.
Interestingly enough, the 49ers incurred a dead cap charge of $3.5 million when they released Kyle Juszczyk this offseason despite re-signing him. So all of these figures add up, and that’s how the Niners have accumulated a league-leading amount in dead money.
Every team tries to wash their hands of perceived mistakes. For example, the 49ers have about $1.5 million in combined dead money for Jon Feliciano, Cameron Latu, Drake Jackson, Danny Gray, Jarrett Kingston, and Taybor Pepper.
Missing on a second and a pair of third-rounders stings in terms of depth, but good organizations are proactive when it comes to recognizing when a player doesn’t fit. Moving on from the Latu’s and Jackson’s of the world doesn’t hurt the Niners financially. It’s the swings and misses on players like Floyd that do.
