49ers coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't want to lose any players from his roster that just went to the Super Bowl earlier this month.
But he also understands the reality of the ever-changing NFL will make that nearly impossible.
"This is the first time that I want every single person on our team back because I think we have a team that could win a Super Bowl," Shanahan told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week.
"So whenever you have that, it is really tough, because when have you ever been able to bring the exact same team back wherever you've been? So that is a lot harder, especially (given) our cap situation."
The salary cap situation is daunting for the NFC Champions as they look to make another run at a Lombardi Trophy in 11 months.
The 49ers want to give new contracts to young captains like All-Pro tight end George Kittle and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who are likely to become two of the highest-paid players at their respective positions. Plus, three important starters _ defensive lineman Arik Armstead, receiver Emmanuel Sanders and safety Jimmie Ward _ will be free agents when the new league year begins March 18.
Yet the team only has about $18 million in cap space, according to Spotrac, which is roughly the number it would take to keep Armstead on the franchise tag alone.
Which means tough decisions will be made over the coming weeks for San Francisco, which has Shanahan weighing short-term success for 2020 or trying to maintain financial flexibility going into the future.
"Are you just trying to do it for one year, and just try to sell the farm for one year or have your best chance over a two- or three-year span? Those are all things that, you can't just decide that and say that's the way we're going," Shanahan said.
The decisions surrounding those prominent players will be tied to others on the fringes of the roster who are candidates to be released given their lack of production relative to their salaries. Receiver Marquise Goodwin and running back Jerick McKinnon would headline that list and clear roughly $8.1 million off the books, which may be enough to keep Sanders or Ward. Running back Tevin Coleman has no guarantees remaining on the last year of his contract in 2020 and releasing him could save some $4.8 million.
But neither Shanahan nor general manager John Lynch this week committed to those players being on the chopping block.
Shanahan thinks Goodwin, who caught just 12 passes in nine games before landing on injured reserve with a leg injury, is still a valuable player who could compete for playing time, particularly if Sanders leaves town, leaving a yet-undrafted rookie and third-year pro Dante Pettis as top options to replace him.
"We don't want to release Marquise. He's too valuable," Shanahan said.
Shanahan said the 49ers would consider trading Goodwin, particularly since they only have six draft picks _ and one before Round 5. But Goodwin would likely fetch just a late-round pick in a trade given his relative lack of production and injuries the past two seasons.
McKinnon, meanwhile, hasn't played the past two seasons since signing a four-year, $30 million contract before 2018 to be the top running back. He tore his ACL a week before the 2018 opener and dealt with complications from the injury near the end of last preseason. He had surgery to clean up the knee and was recently cleared by the team's medical staff at the end of the season.
McKinnon is slated to cost $8.5 million against the salary cap as his deal is currently structured, and all signs are pointing to San Francisco not wanting to be on the hook. But Lynch would like to bring McKinnon back on a restructured contract. He will talk with McKinnon's representation this week at the combine to figure out if that's possible, he said.
"I would tell you we'd like nothing more than to see him actually on the field," Lynch told reporters. "It's no fault of Jerick's, it's just the way it's been. I would tell you we admire the way he's worked through the various issues that he's had and we would love to see that through in some form or fashion. I think this week will be important in talking to his representatives in trying to find something that works for both sides, trying to come back and see Jerick on the field.
" ... I think as we've learned before, it's not an easy position. The nature of that position, there's being cleared and there's actually playing football. So we have to hold our breath on that, but we're encouraged with the way it's gone."
The restricted free agencies of other players will also impact the larger decisions.
Third-year pro Kendrick Bourne and running back Matt Breida, undrafted free agents who joined the team in 2017, have yet to be tendered by San Francisco, which will determine what other teams would have to offer them to sign them away from the team. The 49ers will have the chance to match any offers they receive, but may not be able to if they have to allocate money elsewhere, like to Buckner, Kittle, Armstead, Sanders or Ward.
"So a lot of that goes into other decisions," Shanahan said. "Where we go with restructuring people, whether we re-sign people to long-term deals, so that's why it's a headache."
