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It was all but a formality that the 49ers would part ways with Weston Richburg this offseason. The former Giants center signed a five-year, $47.5 million deal in 2018 as one of the marquee, early signings of the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era. While Richburg played in 28 of 32 games in 2018 and 2019, he sacrificed his body in that 2018 season, playing through a torn quad which he suffered early in the year.
In 2019, he tore his patellar tendon, ending his season at the start of December before the 49ers’ Super Bowl run. From there, he suffered myriad complications and setbacks in his recovery. While there was initial hope he could return for the start of the season, he was instead placed on the physically unable to perform list and never left it. The team later revealed that Richburg had also undergone offseason shoulder surgery, which was a major setback in his recovery.
That has all led us to this point, where we knew Richburg would be cut. It was just a matter of how the 49ers carried it out. As Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports, it won’t be a traditional roster cut. Instead, the 49ers and Richburg have agreed to a restructured deal which will save nearly $7 million in cap space as Richburg “likely” heads to retirement at the age of 29.
Accounting this AM:
— #49ers restructured C Weston Richburg, creating $6.875M of room for the player who likely ends up retiring.
— Details on the 2 #Bills defenders who took less to help the team: Mario Addison ($1.99M less) & Vernon Butler ($2M less), tho there are incentives.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2021
This is a significant boon for the 49ers, who would have saved $4.5 million by cutting Richburg before June 1 and $7.95 million by cutting him after June 1. June 1 cuts allow teams to create more cap space in the current season, but that money isn’t available until the major wave of free agency has ended. By working this deal out now, the 49ers moved closer to that June 1 figure, and will have more than $31 million in cap space at present.