BakoSaint

The Demario David extension at surface level seems to be more similar to the Tyrann Mathieu extension that was team friendly than to the Cameron Jordan extension that was not team friendly. Again we will have to wait for the final details to shake out because its always possible that the remaining part of the contract that was not guaranteed in year 2 guarantees with a trigger a week from now as some device to avoid the 'guaranteed at signing' moniker or that the pay cut is exaggerated because the contract was someone restructured an hour before the extension bringing in a second hidden bonus.

If it was a straight up exchange of $12 million / 1 year for $17.25 million at 2 years with $13.25 million guaranteed, that is effectively only $1.25 million additional future money guaranteed when you consider that we were not likely to cut Davis this season and that any savings this season can offset future expense. If there are not hidden costs, this is all reasonable for a player who is producing at their peak but high risk to decline given his age. It also would make Davis tradeable if we struggle and he wants to finish a season with a contender, whereas nobody is trading for $14 million guaranteed salary for Cameron '2 sack Jordan.'

I feel better about extending Mathieu and Davis with these kind of deals than Kamara and especially Hill. Kamara is already under contract for 2025 unlike Mathieu and Hill, so extending Kamara is a different issue. Adding 2026 to Kamara's contract would be risky. Also Kamara is due to make $25 million in 2025 and that would be an insane number for even a prime MVP-caliber RB leading a consistent playoff teams offense while Kamara is clearly declining and the not the focus of the Saints offense at its best. I would not pay any RB in the league $25 million a year. Restructuring Kamara will be harder because he may not want to take any kind of pay cut without adding years that more than make up for it, so then what to you do, replace $25 million in 2025 with $15 million per year from 2025-2027? Thats not good value at his age either. For Kamara its got to be a really big pay cut where his agent recognizes where the market it for running backs and can't be worried about savings face, and if he won't take it, he is cut not paid $25 million in any restructured form for 2025. Also Kamara has been critical of the coaching the past year and may get vocal again if Kubiak cannot instantly transform him into CMC. Extending him into 2026 plus could be risky even for Loomis and Allen if they end up marrying a dissident.

I really don't want to extend Hill or Ram. I know Hill is a fan favorite but I maintain that the money would be better spent on line to improve the rest of the offense and make the #1 QB and #1 RB better every down. I think other teams would agree and if Hill was on the open market he would not get $10 million a year, but rather something more in like with Cordelle Patterson or Marcus Mariota especially given his age and long term injury history.

The 49ers just cut a player who would not take a real legitimate 'not smoke and mirrors' pay cut. I am glad we are getting players to take pay cuts, but we need to be willing to accept that option too if they won't say yes to a pay cut that reflects real market value and makes sense for the team.