49ers Still Pondering Kyle Juszczyk’s Status

Kyle Juszczyk is a salary cap cut candidate for the 49ers.

Dec 12, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

One player that is a cut candidate on the 49ers is beloved fullback Kyle Juszczyk.

The 49ers set that scenario in motion last year when they had Juszczyk take a pay cut. It was a transaction that emotionally cut Juszczyk deep. And he’s not naive. He knows what his current situation is.

However, it sounds as if the 49ers are still pondering Juszczyk’s status. 

“Juice is a great player, and he's been really valuable to us, so he's part of us,” Lynch said. “We'll see. We're thinking of a lot of things right now. We're trying to make everything work, and some tighter constraints than we've had in the past."

The 49ers will save nearly $3 million by cutting Juszczyk. That number increases to $4.6 million if they cut with a post-June 1 designation. However, the 49ers only get two opportunities to use a post-June 1 designation.

That will likely be reserved for Javon Hargraves and Deebo Samuel. I don’t see that as an option with Juszczyk. Ultimately, the 49ers end up cutting ties with him.

The writing was on the wall when they had him take a pay cut last year and left an out for this offseason. Now, the 49ers have ample salary cap space, so it’s very penny pinching to let him go for a few million dollars of relief.

But they may feel his value is better served granting that relief instead of what he brings to the field. Juszczyk saw much of his usage last season in a tight end alignment.

So, if the 49ers finally find their second tight end that they’ve been coveting for the last two seasons alongside George Kittle, Juszczyk will be a goner. Of course, it’s always possible for the 49ers to let him play out the final year of his deal. 

I just think that they’ve had a plan to let him go since last year and now that it’s time to pull the trigger, they are becoming hesitant because they love who he is and what he’s done. It wouldn’t be surprising if they backed off their plans and did that..

The fact that Lynch made it an undetermined status right now bodes well for him. The more they think about it, the more I can see them sticking it out with him. 

As of now, I think they cut him. We’ll see in March if he’s still on the team.

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