A consistent part of Kyle Shanahan‘s offense throughout the HC’s 49ers tenure, Kyle Juszczyk is reportedly out in San Francisco. The 49ers informed the veteran fullback they are cutting him, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. This had been on the radar for a bit, as the 49ers will pass on paying him a $4.1MM base salary. Juszczyk has been with the team for eight years. The 49ers will save $2.93MM by releasing him. 
After playing out his rookie contract in Baltimore, the Harvard product has been a mainstay in San Francisco. He’s also been a routinely top-tier fullback, making the Pro Bowl in each of the past nine seasons and earning first- and second-team All-Pro honors in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Juszczyk is set to join the rest of the league’s best fullbacks on the open market as Baltimore’s Patrick Ricard, Denver’s Michael Burton, and Buffalo’s Reggie Gilliam all see their contracts expire this year, as well. Burton and Gilliam don’t really match the usage of Juszczyk and Ricard in 2024. Juszczyk (537) and Ricard (495) both played around 500 snaps, while the next closest pair (Alec Ingold and Hunter Luepke) didn’t reach 340.
Of the two high-usage fullbacks, Juszczyk is the far more versatile of the two. Nearly 70 percent of Ricard’s snaps were in run blocking, while Juszczyk played 239 snaps run blocking and 256 as a receiver. No fullback matched Juszczyk’s production as a receiver this year, and it could be argued that it’s been that way ever since he came into the NFL.
It difficult to see what’s on the horizon for Juszczyk. Set to enter the 2025 NFL season at 34 years old, Juszczyk is the second-oldest fullback on the market — Nick Bellore will be 36. Finding another home for Juszczyk will require finding a team that knows how to utilize a versatile fullback and wants to take on that project at his age. At this point, a reunion with the Ravens seems as likely as retirement which seems as likely as pretty much every other scenario on the table.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
Yeesh. Feels like there’s organizational shift happening.
Yeah, already saw that there was speculation that they were moving from a 21 to a 12 personnel scheme next year. Going to be really interesting to see how Shanny changes things up.
Bad mistake…….you never get rid on your reliable glue
Paying an aging FB $4 million isn’t smart.
I mean, he’s a back about to turn 34. It’s not like it was going to be forever.
He’s a fullback who is the only reason their undersized running backs are so effective.
Watch what happens this season when they don’t have a FB to take out the first defender.
I think you’re getting him confused with Trent Williams
When the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, the FB was always an important part of Josh’s offense and Vrabel has talked about bringing the position back. This guy would be perfect.
Like the sound of that
My second thought after being surprised by this headline was that I really miss James Develin.
Juice nooooo!
Seahawks need a fullback
Last of a dying breed. I sorely miss the years of FBs leading the way.
He’s literally the only reason San Francisco had such a dominant rushing attack under Shanahan.
Just him huh
Or “literally” not. Williams and Kittle were more essential their run blocking schemes, but Juice was huge too.
Lol yeah see how well that works this year. I guarantee you it was Juice.
The only time smaller backs are dominant like that is running behind fullbacks.
No progeny of Tom Rathman will be joining the Niners, unfortunately.
wtf are the Niners doing
Getting cheaper and younger like they said
So they get rid of their highly effective and borderline irreplaceable Swiss Army knife who was still under contract? I get not getting into a bidding war for guys that are now free agents; but 4 mill for Jusz was a steal.
Seeds planted to be a Chief?
Good luck running the ball successfully with your undersized backs without Juice. Guarantee it won’t happen.
After signing Luke Farrell, this was becoming more and more obvious. They now have two of the best blocking tight ends in the league.