The San Francisco 49ers missed the playoffs again last season, but after a strong finish to the season with Jimmy Garoppolo under center, they're hoping to challenge for a playoff spot in 2018. They also had an abundance of cap space this offseason, and they used that cap space to sign some players to monster deals. However, some of those players might be overpaid. Here are the four most overpaid players on San Francisco's roster:
QB Jimmy Garoppolo - $37 million cap hit
Has Garoppolo been great for the 49ers? Absolutely. Does he have a bright future? He most certainly does. However, San Francisco made him the highest-paid quarterback in the league (he's now the third, having been passed by Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan) even though he has just seven career starts under his belt.
There is obvious reasoning as to why the 49ers paid Garoppolo - he's undefeated in those seven starts and appears to be a franchise quarterback, and this is the going rate for franchise QBs. There are also plenty of reason for concern - his starts haven't even amounted to half of a full season and his stats (seven touchdowns, five interceptions) aren't overly impressive.
Garoppolo is a good player but, at the current moment, he's one of the most overpaid players in the league.
RB Jerick McKinnon - $10.5 million cap hit
The 49ers targeted McKinnon this offseason and made him the fourth-highest-paid running back in the NFL (with the second-biggest cap hit). Perhaps head coach Kyle Shanahan knows what type of running back works best in his scheme. McKinnon is small at 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds, but Shanahan has had two running backs with a similar build that totaled over 1,600 yards and 11 touchdowns - Steve Slaton 2008 and Devonta Freeman 2015.
But should the fourth-highest-paid running back in the league be someone who has never entered a season as a full-time starter before? For context, if the 49ers had both Todd Gurley and Devonta Freeman on their current contracts, they'd save over $1 million against the cap. McKinnon hasn't proven he deserves that kind of money yet.
WR Pierre Garcon - $9.25 million cap hit
Garcon's salary makes him the 20th highest-paid receiver in the league. If he a top 20 wide receiver in the league? I'd say no. Does he bring additional value to the 49ers? The 31-year-old was limited to only eight games last due to injury but didn't catch a touchdown and only had three games with over 55 receiving yards. San Francisco doesn't have many quality receivers, so he certainly helps in that regard, but he's definitely making more money than he would on the open market.
CB Richard Sherman - $6.175 million cap hit
Sherman will go into the Hall of Fame one day but what exactly is he bringing to the 49ers? They're paying him to be their No. 1 cornerback despite his attempt to come back from a ruptured Achilles, which is an injury that has ruined careers in the past. If Sherman is able to play at full health, the 49ers will get their money's worth - but history tells us he won't be, at least not this year.
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