Did they not learn their lesson?
The 49ers have restructured Javon Hargrave's contract, according to OverTheCap.com. Here's the good news: The 49ers created $6.14 million in cap space and reduced Hargrave's 2024 cap hit to $9.2 million, which is reasonable.
Here's the not so good news: Hargrave's cap hit went up in all future years of his contract. In 2025, when he'll be 32-years old, his cap hit will be an astronomical $28.1 million. And if they try to cut him before June 1, they'll create only $3.3 million in cap space and eat $24.8 million in deap cap. Not ideal.
The 49ers just went through this situation with Arik Armstead. In 2023, they restructured his deal to create more cap space in the short term and less in the long term. They knew Armstead's cap hit would balloon to more than $28 million in 2024, and at the time they were OK with that. They thought Armstead was a foundational player on their roster who would stick around.
They were wrong. Armstead had a second straight disappointing season filled with injuries, and suddenly the 49ers couldn't justify keeping Armstead and his outrageous cap hit. So they desperately asked him to take a pay cut, he refused, they released him and now he's on the Jaguars.
The same exact scenario could play out with Hargrave next year if he underperforms or gets injured or both.
The 49ers need to stop restructuring contracts of players who are in their 30s. It's bad business.
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