We've already talked about how the San Fransisco 49ers can save over $8 million by restructuring Christian McCaffrey's contract.

Fortunately, that's not the only way the 49ers can create cap room. And we aren't talking about saving a few million here and there.

We are talking about the fact that the 49ers have the ability to make themselves major players in free agency with a few sensible moves.

The 49ers need to go ahead and extend Nick Bosa

Bosa is one of the NFL's best pass rushers, if not the best. He's set to make $17.859 million in his fifth year, which is a solid salary, but a total bargain when considering what he brings to the table.

Bosa is going to want to get paid, for good and deserved reason. So, why not get that done, now?

This is John Lynch's best -and most responsible- way to create a lot of cap space right off the bat. 

Bosa's income is 100% base salary, which means the 49ers can manipulate all of it but $1.080 million, which is the required minimum salary paid to fifth-year players. 

That leaves $16.779 million for the 49ers to play with. 

Spotrac estimates Bosa's second contract will average $28.3 million per year, which makes sense. Therefore, we'll use that as the structure for this exercise. 

The 49ers can give 2022's Defensive Player of the Year a four-year, $115 million extension that keeps him in the Bay Area through 2027. They can take the above $16.779 million and turn it into a signing bonus, which makes his 2023 cap hit around $4,435,800 after adding the aforementioned minimum salary and the $3,355,800 that's prorated over the new life of his contract.

The key with Bosa, however, is he's going to want a good chunk of change upfront. The 49ers can make that happen by adding to the converted base salary and still minimized the 2023 hit. Let's say the 49ers include $15 million of the $115 million with his $16.779 million signing bonus. That would make Bosa's 2023 cap hit $7,435,800.

That's still more than $10.4 million in cap savings and not only are the 49ers locking up one of their best players – they're only creating a prorated hit of $6,355,800, which isn't bad.

Charvarius Ward is a candidate for a restructure

Ward already has two void years on his contract, but, the prorated money amount totals a low $2.405 million in each year.

Ward's base salary is set at $13.560 million in 2023, but he's already been paid $5 million thanks to the structure of his deal. The remaining $8.560 million becomes fully guaranteed on April 1, but that doesn't mean the 49ers are out of luck.

With a restructure, the 49ers will have to pay Ward a minimum base salary of $1.080 million, like Bosa, in 2023. They can take the $7.480 million difference, turn it into a signing bonus, and spread it out over the remaining four years of his deal.

That'll makes Ward's cap hit $5,355,000 after adding in the prorated $2.405 million from his initial signing bonus, his $1.080 minimum salary, and the $1.870 million that stems from the prorated $7.480 million.

In all, this saves the 49ers $8.205 million. 

Three moves can free up over $27 million

Now, of course, the players have to agree on all of this to make it happen. Fortunately, this is all grounded in logic and realism, so there is definitely a chance it could happen.

The $18,628,200 created through the Bosa extension and Ward restructure, along with the previously mentioned $8,508,000 saved through a McCaffrey restructure creates approximately $27,136,200 in cap room for the 49ers.

Per Over The Cap, the 49ers currently have just under $5.9 million in cap space, which is just enough to sign the draft class and have operating money for the 2023 season.

Therefore, these three moves will give them a little more than $27 million to use, if they desire. That number would also represent the eighth-most cap space in the NFL.

All of a sudden, the 49ers can become legit players in free agency, which drastically improves their chances at winning a Super Bowl.

But the best part with these moves is they are also responsible ones. Lynch and co. won't be borrowing a ton of money from future years and, they lock up one of the NFL's best players in the process.

Seems like a no-brainer for one of the NFL's top contenders, right?