All 49ers

Why the 49ers Might Not Re-Sign Jordan Mason

Expect Mason to sign elsewhere.

Grant Cohn

Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason (24) runs with the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason (24) runs with the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
In this story:

Jordan Mason was one of the NFL's leading rushers through the first half of the season. Now he'll be a restricted free agent in a couple months and the 49ers might not be able to re-sign him. Here's why.

Mason proved that he's one of the most powerful rushers in the league when he took over for Christian McCaffrey who missed the first eight games of the season with bilateral Achilles' tendonitis. Mason ranked among the league leaders in broken tackles and yards after contact. Then McCaffrey returned, the 49ers shelved Mason, he eventually got injured and spent the end of the season on Injured Reserve.

The 49ers season would have been even uglier if they hadn't had Mason. He saved them early on when they had no replacement for McCaffrey. Ideally, the 49ers would keep Mason around for the next time McCaffrey goes down -- running backs get injured all the time.

But last year, the 49ers gave McCaffrey a contract extension that makes him the highest-paid running back in the NFL. They might not be able to afford to sign a high-priced backup such as Mason who has shown he can be a quality starter.

If the 49ers give Mason a second-round tender and another team matches it, that team would have to trade the 49ers a second-round pick for the right to sign Mason. But if the 49ers give Mason a second-round tender and another does NOT match it, then the 49ers would have to give Mason more than $5 million. And that's more than the 49ers can afford.

Expect Mason to sign elsewhere.

Download and follow The Cohn Zohn Podcast.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/News