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San Francisco 49ers – Cap Space: $15,655,250
Adams to San Francisco is a rumour that is building steam. The 49ers defense is already built to win now and despite the off-season loss of DeForest Buckner, it is a defense that is still primed for another deep playoff run. Jamal Adams would certainly provide quite the tonic to nurse any Superbowl hangover, but is San Francisco truly a realistic destination?
For 2020, the Niners could afford to squeeze Adams under the cap, and if taken at face value, could also afford to extend him to a long-term tenure by the Bay. In 2021, San Francisco are estimated to have just under $50m to spend, but GM John Lynch has some tough decisions to make concerning existing players over the next 18 months.
George Kittle, Trent Williams, Solomon Thomas, Richard Sherman, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner.
These are just some of the names that will require extensions over the next couple of years and so that fifty million, along with the estimated $86m in 2022, could disappear quickly.
The Niners defense did suffer slightly towards the end of last season and lost a bit of momentum in the second half of the season. A mere 77 points were given up through October, but from November onwards, the 49ers gave up a whopping 195 points.
This can be accounted due to a number of reasons such as the accumulated fatigue across a long season, but in games against potent offenses such as New Orleans, Seattle and the LA Rams, the team did appear more vulnerable. Adams could provide the consistency and grit needed to maintain a suffocating momentum across a full 16 regular season games.
Some of the consistency may have been lost due to injuries last season. Jaquiski Tartt is the man who Adams is likely to supplant if Lynch were to orchestrate a trade. Tartt is a solid player but seems injury prone, most recently missing the 49ers’ playoff run in the 2019 season.
Adams has never caught the injury bug during his career so far and would provide a clear upgrade at the position. Tartt carries a manageable $6.25m cap hit this season but as trade of an oft-injured player in a straight positional exchange is unlikely to tempt the Jets, even with some picks thrown in.
When it comes to the matter of draft picks, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have both publicly stated that they would be loathe to have as few picks as they had this year and so trading key draft assets seems a long shot in the immediacy. Plus, it is unlikely that the Jets would accept simply a late – possibly the 31st or 32nd – first round choice.
The combination of planning for the future in ‘Frisco via the draft and however they choose to manipulate the salary cap seems to be too restrictive for a trade to come to fruition, especially with an above average starter already entrenched at the strong safety position.
Likelihood: 5/10
