Per Dan Graziano of ESPN, the NFL informed teams that the 2025 per-team salary cap is increasing heading into next season. The NFL salary cap is projected to fall in the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million.
It will have increased by more than $53 million over the last two years.
According to Over The Cap’s updated projections, the 49ers boast one of the largest amounts of effective cap space. These projections are based upon a base salary cap of $279.5 million for the 2025 season.
With the new projections, here’s where all 32 teams rank in terms of effective cap space per Over The Cap:
New England Patriots: $118,872,718
Las Vegas Raiders: $92,956,761
Washington Commanders: $75,480,461
Arizona Cardinals: $72,949,735
Los Angeles Chargers: $62,170,928
Minnesota Vikings: $61,014,188
Chicago Bears: $60,859,590
Pittsburgh Steelers: $57,102,278
Cincinnati Bengals: $49,729,179
Detroit Lions: $49,194,317
Green Bay Packers: $46,074,742
San Francisco 49ers: $45,661,761
Tennessee Titans: $42,736,238
Los Angeles Rams: $41,743,695
New York Giants: $38,752,449
Denver Broncos: $38,576,265
Indianapolis Colts: $31,363,995
Jacksonville Jaguars: $30,616,447
Carolina Panthers: $19,849,303
New York Jets: $18,170,301
Philadelphia Eagles: $17,015,825
Baltimore Ravens: $9,921,401
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $5,266,618
Kansas City Chiefs: $4,394,010
Houston Texans: $2,127,621
Dallas Cowboys: -$1,714,316
Miami Dolphins: -$6,742,178
Atlanta Falcons: -$8,392,553
Seattle Seahawks: -$9,746,604
Buffalo Bills: -$13,243,068
Cleveland Browns: -$32,778,205
New Orleans Saints: -$52,578,803
As evidenced in the latest projections, the 49ers are sitting in a solid position in terms of effective cap space.
With a projected $45.6 million in effective cap space, San Francisco has the flexibility to bring several of its own free agents back if it so chooses. That list of 49ers free agents includes linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Or, the 49ers could look to sign Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton to pair with Fred Warner.
San Francisco has needs in the secondary as well with cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Talanoa Hufanga set to hit the market. Ward indicated that he’s planning to move on, but could the 49ers re-sign one or both?
If not, San Francisco is likely in the free agent market elsewhere in the defensive backfield.
The news that Deebo Samuel requested a trade means that the 49ers could sniff around for a big-name wide receiver in free agency as well. Could San Francisco pull off a splash and sign either Tee Higgins or Chris Godwin to bring in a superstar playmaker for quarterback Brock Purdy?
That would soak up a large portion of the 49ers’ effective cap space, but maybe San Francisco sees an opportunity to jump right back into Super Bowl contention with a star wide receiver like that.
With the 12th-largest effective cap space, the 49ers have a number of different avenues that they could pursue.
