The 49ers have given a lot of players very backloaded their deals with huge signing bonuses to keep the players happy (signing bonuses have an equal cap hit every year over the life of the contract).
Bosa, Kittle, Hargrave, Warner, McCaffery and Aiyuk all have a base salary this year of just over $1 million and each has a cap hit of under 15 mill for this year mostly coming from the bonus. However if you look at the 49ers cap hits for 2026 you start seeing some big numbers, like Bosa having a cap hit of 40 million, Warner 26 million and Williams 37 million. The 49ers have less cap space available in 2026 than they do in 2024 currently, with only 35 players signed. When 2026 comes they can either just cut players or restructure the contract to push the cap hit out further. So the 49ers are technically paying all these players, they just aren't paying them this year.
The Cardinals do not have a lot of cap gymnastics. The guys we are paying, we are paying them this year. To be fair, we haven't drafted a lot of guys worth giving top of the line money. I think only one of the guys the 49ers are paying big money was acquired during free agency (Hargrave), the rest were drafted or traded for.
Arizona Cardinals salary cap, contracts, bonus money, dead money, and cap savings for every player
overthecap.com
San Francisco 49ers salary cap, contracts, bonus money, dead money, and cap savings for every player
overthecap.com