Though the Trey Lance trade backfired, the San Francisco 49ers have gotten a lot out of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Second-round pick Aaron Banks is a solid starting left guard. Ambry Thomas, Deommodore Lenoir and Talanoa Hufanga, though the latter is out for the season with a torn ACL, are all important players in the secondary. Running back Elijah Mitchell made the fastest start of any of the draft class as a sixth-round rookie, leading the 49ers in rushing in 2021, but he has since taken a backseat to Christian McCaffrey.

For Banks, Lenoir and Hufanga, their impressive development is set to help their wallet in 2024, and hurt the salary cap situation of the 49ers.

All three will qualify for Proven Performance Escalators in the fourth year of their rookie deals.

As detailed in the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement, there are three levels of PPE qualification. This via Over The Cap:

The Level One PPE is earned if a player participates in a certain percentage of a team's offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averages that percentage of offensive or defensive snaps over his entire first three years. For 2nd round picks, the average is 60%, and (as was the same in the 2011 CBA) for 3rd-7th round picks it is 35%. 

The Level Two PPE is earned if a player participates in at least 55% of a team's offensive or defensive snaps in all of his first three seasons. 

The Level Three PPE is earned if a player is selected to a Pro Bowl on the original ballot (not as an alternate) in any of his first three seasons.

Banks and Lenoir are both set to receive Level One escalators having each established themselves as starters and played well over 60 percent of the snaps in each of the last two seasons, with Lenoir playing both outside and slot corner in his third year in the NFL.

Their fourth-year salaries will rise to the 2024 Restricted Free Agent Right of First Refusal tender, projected by Over the Cap to be $2.828 million.

For Banks, whose 2024 salary as of right now is $2.52 million, it is only a small increase. For Lenoir, however, it is a raise of just over $1.7 million, a significant reward for a player who has rapidly developed into one of the most important on the 49er defense.

Hufanga, meanwhile, qualifies for the Level Three PPE, having made the Pro Bowl in 2022. 

The Level Three escalator raises his salary to the level of a second-round RFA tender, projected to be $4.63 million, meaning a pay raise of $3.52 million for the safety in 2024.

The 49ers would likely have already been considering an extension for Hufanga prior to him tearing his ACL in Week 11, but its a well-deserved bump for a player who almost instantly became a star after ascending to a starting role. 

However, the pay raises present a problem for the 49ers, who as of right are projected to be just $1.36 million under the 2024 cap before those escalators come into the effect. 

You don't need to do the exact math to see the issue. The escalators will take the 49ers over the cap.

Potential retirements in the wake of a Super Bowl victory they are the still the favorites to claim could clear some room, but without them the 49ers will need to look at extensions and restructures to create the necessary space to conduct free agency business and sign a rookie class from a draft in which they are slated to have 11 picks.

San Francisco will naturally be delighted at the progress of their 2021 selections, but their success has created a headache the organization will need to solve this offseason.

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