The 49ers Have Asked Kyle Juszczyk to Take a Pay Cut
Another veteran might be gone soon.
The 49ers have asked Kyle Juszczyk to take a pay cut, according to Adam Caplan, and the two sides haven't come to an agreement yet. Which means Juszczyk could decline the pay cut and choose to become a free agent if he thinks he can get more money on the open market than what the 49ers are offering him.
That's precisely what Arik Armstead just did. The 49ers asked him to take a pay cut, they tried to come to an agreement, failed, and now they're going to release him. It's possible he'll re-sign with the 49ers, but it's more likely he'll get a larger offer elsewhere and leave.
When this news first came out, I sided with the 49ers. They've taken care of Juszczyk and Armstead, and those two are extremely overpaid. It's time for them to take care of the 49ers. Paying Juszczyk $7.5 million this year doesn't help the team win the Super Bowl, and neither does paying Arik Armstead $28.3 million.
The 49ers have paid Juszczyk more than $35 million to go in motion, block sometimes and be a decoy. They almost never give him the ball. Dude, take the pay cut.
The 49ers chose to keep Armstead over DeForest Buckner. Since then, the 49ers have paid Armstead more than $66 million for 14.5 sacks and good run defense when he's on the field, which isn't all the time. Dude, take the pay cut.
You'd think those two players would want one more chance to win a Super Bowl, but maybe they've lost confidence in this team or their head coach, Kyle Shanahan. Remember, Juszczyk and Armstead were the two players after the Super Bowl loss who said they didn't know the playoff overtime rules, implying that Shanahan didn't prepare them.
If that's the case, I don't blame Juszczyk and Armstead. The 2023 49ers were one of the best teams ever to not win a Super Bowl. If Shanahan can't win with that roster, maybe he just can't win.
Stay tuned. We'll see what Juszczyk decides to do.
