Adding void years to contracts is a trending move by teams nowadays to spread out signing bonus money over a number of years to lessen the salary cap burden for a particular player deal. It has it’s pros and cons, mainly that it creates short-term financial flexibility but opens up long-term issues down the line.<\/p>\n
The idea is even more valuable when you consider how much the salary cap has risen in recent years, as explained in this chart<\/a> from The San Francisco Standard’s David Lombardi.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n As Lombardi alluded to, the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> have been one of the more active teams utilizing this concept. The 49ers have the sixth-most salary cap space tied to void years over the next six seasons, according to data from Over The Cap via @sfdata9ers<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n The 49ers have $164 million in cap space connected to void years, including $30.8 million in 2027 (fifth in the league that year), $27 million in 2028, $67.5 million in 2029 (second-most in the league that year), $27.3 million in 2030, $11 million in 2031 and none in 2032.<\/p>\n The biggest contracts that include void years aren’t terribly surprising. They involve some of the biggest contracts handed out by the 49ers in recent years.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Here are the biggest void year salary cap numbers for the next six season on the 49ers, per Over The Cap data:<\/p>\n 2027<\/p>\n Trent Williams: $20.83 million<\/p>\n Dre Greenlaw: $2.5 million<\/p>\n 2028<\/p>\n Trent Williams: $8.59 million<\/p>\n Christian McCaffrey: $13.83 million<\/p>\n 2029<\/p>\n Nick Bosa: $14.39 million<\/p>\n Brandon Aiyuk: $14.55 million<\/p>\n Colton McKivitz: $17.79 million<\/p>\n Mike Evans: $20.79 million<\/p>\n 2030<\/p>\n George Kittle: $17.66 million<\/p>\n Fred Warner: $4.2 million<\/p>\n Eddy Pi\u00f1eiro: $2.55 million<\/p>\n 2031<\/p>\n A lot of these contracts will likely change in the coming, but it’s a good snapshot of where the 49ers have decided to push cap space into the future rather than take on that money immediately.<\/p>\n