NFL Trade Rumors
Every year, teams take a fresh look at their roster to see where they can trim off some of the fat. It’s a ruthless exercise. Even if a team is awash in cap space, even if the savings are relative pocket change, if the front office decides the production is not worth the salary for a player, they will make the cut.
Like layoffs in any industry, the players who are cut skew older. Many have injury issues and for a lot of these players, their career goes downhill from this point. But some players are reinvigorated by the fresh start, and one team’s trash can become another team’s treasure.
Here’s an early look, team-by-team, at the potential players who could be on the chopping block this offseason and join a free agent pool that frankly could use as much help as it can get.
The 49ers have agreed to a restructured deal with Hargrave that essentially was a $17 million pay cut and paved the way to make him a June 1 release. That means San Francisco will have moved on from Hargrave and DT Arik Armstead in back-to-back offseasons, so retooling the defensive tackle spot seems like a priority.
Another high-profile cut candidate to watch is Samuel, who the 49ers are also shopping in a potential trade. It’s not a lock that they’ll find a suitor, as Samuel is owed $17.55 million in 2025 when he’ll be 29 years old and coming off one of his least-productive seasons. His yards per game and yards per touch were the lowest of his career and he scored just four times in 15 games.
Samuel has a $15 million option bonus that’s due on March 23, which creates a soft early deadline for the team to decide on its plans, though that bonus can be pushed back. If they get a good enough pick, it’s worth taking on the dead cap hit from a trade which would be the same as if he was released. Otherwise, they can designate him as a June 1 cut or wait until then to release him and spread out this dead money.
Outside of that, there aren’t a lot of other big cuts for the 49ers. Core players like Kittle and LB Fred Warner have significant base salaries but have been productive enough that it would be shocking if San Francisco moved on. Juszczyk took a pay cut this past offseason and might be asked to do so again, as while he’s another Shanahan favorite the fullback market around the league is not booming.
Cutting either Floyd or Gross-Matos wouldn’t save a lot of cap space but both players are due nearly $8 million in cash in 2025 and could receive some scrutiny as the team evaluates the defensive line....
