Kyle Juszczyk Wasn't a fan of the 49ers Asking him to Take a Pay Cut

It wasn't an easy thing for Kyle Juszczyk to stomach when the 49ers approached him about taking a pay cut back in March.

Feb 6, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers really needed to free up some salary cap space as they were entering free agency.

One avenue they explored was asking fullback Kyle Juszczyk to take a pay cut. Juszczyk obliged to the cut that ended up saving the 49ers $1.75 million in cap space. Talk about being a team player. It was a move that Juszczyk was reluctant to do.

He recently spoke to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area where he revealed that he wasn't at all a fan of the 49ers asking him to take a pay cut. He took it personally initially.

"Honestly, it hurt," said Juszczyk. "When John (Lynch) came to me and asked, I wasn't necessarily expecting it, and I think it's natural for anybody that it kind of hurts your ego. It hurts your heart a little bit. I do understand that it's a business, but I do feel like I'm as valuable as what I was expected to get paid. All that said, there definitely was a process that we had to go through and I had to come to terms with it and that sort of thing.

"At the end of the day, though, I really, truly, I wanted to be a Niner. This is where I wanted to be. I absolutely love it here. I still love John and Kyle (Shanahan), still have great relationships with them. I think this is the best team in the league, and I think we have the best chance to win a Super Bowl. So this is where I wanted to be. That's where my roots are. I have a home here. So we got it done, and I'm back with the Niners, and so I am happy.”

Juszczyk has every right to feel hurt about the pay cut. That will typically be the knee-jerk reaction anyone would have if their bosses approached them to do so. However, like Juszczyk acknowledged, it is a business. Of all the players on the team who the 49ers could approach -- it was him.

As a result of the pay cut, I suspect that Juszczyk is playing in his final season with the 49ers. If they were to go so far as to request a cut from him, then that means outright releasing him was on the table the same way they did with Arik Armstead.

This will be an intriguing decision come next offseason.