After ending the season with a 6-11, the Niners started their clean drive by firing DC Nick Sorensen. And you could say there has been no looking back ever since. In February, the Niners took a blow as QB coach Brian Griese decided to leave the coaching career abruptly. Then, the team moved to the players’ camp and did a cleanup drive. The Niners first traded WR Deebo Samuel to the Commanders in exchange for a fifth-round pick.

The rumors were that they were trying to free up some space for Brock Purdy‘s extension. Moreover, the team has left many hearts broken by releasing some key players. But even after that, Kyle Shanahan‘s team still has no room to breathe under a 77 million financial burden.

To everyone’s delight, the league increased the salary cap for this year to $279.2 million. But Kyle Shanahan’s Niners are still struggling financially, having more dead money and very little cap space right now. So, where exactly are the Niners in the financial chaos?

San Francisco has an active cap spending of about $219.1 million. Translation: The team’s most cap space is taken by the contracts of its star players, like Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, and Trent Williams. Last season, the Niners spent $38 million on McCaffrey for a two-year extension. So, a hint of mismanagement comes to our minds.

Right now, the Niners have only about $32.4 million in available cap space. It will shrink even more if they spend it on signing some players. Now, rumors are swirling that the team regrets Brandon Aiyuk‘s $120 million contract extension and might trade him to the Panthers to free up more cap space. First, they let go of Deebo, and if they part ways with Brandon, they could be in a real mess. Honestly, San Francisco is in a pickle this off-season.

And now their mass-firing will have fans rioting against them.

Is Kyle Shanahan’s roster overhaul a risk or a necessity?

“Not sure what the 49ers are doing, but losing your road dog at LB in Greenlaw, CB Charvarius Ward, S Talanoa Hufanga, your RG Banks, OT Moore, trading Deebo Samuel, and cutting your versatile H-Back Juszczyk SOUNDS LIKE A REBUILD. Better get it right, or the fans will RIOT.”

That’s what former QB Robert Griffin III had to say about the Niners’ cleanup drive. On one hand, other franchises offered extensions to their key players. For Niners fans, it turned out to be Bloody Monday.

In this year’s free agency, the team has parted ways with fullback Kyle Juszczyk, LB Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga, and various other key players. And the real problem is that even after all this, the Niners still have $77.7M counting against the cap space.

First, they let go of their veteran players, mostly starters. And yet, their previous deals are still weighing against their cap space. This dead money will weigh them down; that’s how it’s looking this season. All this purging was for nothing?

It probably looks like the Niners are trying to retool their team. They have unloaded the veterans off the team and are trying to reshape it with a much younger roster. If that is the case, it may backfire on the team this season. And the worry is that if all this cleaning was to free up cap space, they couldn’t even successfully do that.

Whatever strategy they tend to plan, fans are enraged. The netizens are mocking and bashing the team for letting go of talents like Kyle, Deebo, Greenlaw, and Aaron Banks. How will this cleanup turn out for the team? The fans might not want the season to start already!