[discostu]

Or if the Niners had handled the cap intelligently. Defered salary sure seemed like a good idea early in the cap era, but it came back and bit every team that used it, and is still biting the Niners because they used it again while they were climbing out of the cap hell they got in the first time.

[Alberta's Child]

No matter how hard they try, every team eventually reaches the point where the salary cap precludes them from keeping their star players. That's why it's so rare to find players spending their entire careers with one team anymore.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Or if the Niners had handled the cap intelligently. Defered salary sure seemed like a good idea early in the cap era, but it came back and bit every team that used it, and is still biting the Niners because they used it again while they were climbing out of the cap hell they got in the first time.

The 49ers salary cap problems are years in the past - they've been well under the cap for several years now. Their problem now is bad drafts, no free-agent signings of note, and most importantly, incompetent ownership.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Don't forget they were caught cheating on the cap, which is not the main, but one of the reasons Eddie DeBartolo is no longer running the team.