It seems like the Niners have a decent amount of cap space. I hope they're saving it for some good players who might get cut later in the summer. It's clear they could use a CB based on the fact that they tried to trade for Eric Wright.
They need to front-load some contract extension(s) right now. Perrish Cox, Mike Iupati... maybe Nnamdi. Can't front-load a Culliver contract 'cause he doesn't count against the cap this season (IR).
I saw that too. I think it stems from the fact we have so many guys on the reserve lists. Once those guys are back and others cut from the 53 man roster, we should be much more comfortable. Niner cap hell has at $2.5 M under.
I may be wrong, but I think the rule of 51 does not apply after Saturday. The cap is somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 depending on some bonus structure. Per nflsalarycapguru.com:
Only the highest 51 player salaries for a team count against the Salary Cap in the offseason while ALL player salaries of a team count in calculating the team total Salary Cap during the season.
This includes a player that is on Injured Reserve (IR), Physically Unable to Perform (PUP), and the Practice Squad (PS). Practice Squad contracts are included in a team’s Salary Cap during the season except in certain situations where a practice squad player is signed to another team’s 53-man roster.
The top 51 rule states that from the beginning of the League Year (early March) until the day before the first regular season game, only the highest 51 highest P5 (“Paragraph 5” of a standard NFL contract, which is typically the player’s yearly base salary) player contracts amounts will be included and counted against a team’s Salary Cap. Each team must be under the Salary Cap by the first regular season game.