SANTA CLARA — Kyle Juszczyk may be a little lighter in the wallet, but he was accorded a veteran’s respect on the first day of pads.
The 49ers fullback got the day off and looked to teammate Christian McCaffrey for guidance.
“First one,” Juszczyk said Tuesday after being resting the previous day. “It only took 12 years. I had to ask Christian for tips. He’s well-versed in them. It’s something Kyle (Shanahan) and I had talked about before training camp, mixing in a few of them this year and I think it was good for me. Felt fresh today.”
Juszczyk was back at it on the second day in pads, making good on a vow he made in the immediate painful aftermath of the 49ers’ 25-22 overtime loss in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
“It’s hard to put yourself out there on the biggest stage in the world and come up short and then have to deal with what comes with that It’s not easy,” Juszczyk said on Feb. 11. “But it’s something that we’ll never back down from. I take pride in that. You can say whatever you want, I’m going to go do it again.”
If it were only that simple.
Only in the NFL can a player hold up his end of the bargain in terms of an existing contract and then get a cold slap in the face. Teammates McCaffrey and Jauan Jennings got healthy raises. Tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk aren’t practicing, awaiting seemingly inevitable and substantial pay bumps of their own. Quarterback Brock Purdy, eligible for the first time for a new deal in the offseason, could land a contract paying him $60 million per year starting in 2025.
Yet the man known as “Juice,” one of the first players signed by Shanahan and general manager John Lynch when they arrived in 2017, found himself squeezed in a business sense. The 49ers say all the right things, but they can be as cold and calculating as anyone else when they’ve got leverage.
When it came to Juszczyk, they used it.
The 49ers use the fullback extensively in Shanahan’s system. Juszczyk, 33, blocks, catches and runs on occasion. He had career-low production with the ball last year with 14 receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns and five rushes for six yards as a ballcarrier.
Juszczyk has never been about stats anyway. He was on the field for 46 percent of the 49ers’ plays, he’s a willing and precise blocker and he’s a valuable chess piece in the Shanahan system. It’s not like the 49ers will ask less of Juszczyk when getting less money. He has contributed on special teams before and could have more of a role there this year with the new kickoff return rules.
But fullback has been phased out of other offenses. It’s not like there was a big open market for Juszczyk should he be released. The 49ers knew this, and rather than pay Juszczyk what they’d previously agreed to, elected to go to one of their most respected players and ask him to take less rather than live up to the six-year, $27 million deal signed in 2021.
It’s one thing to restructure a contract when salary is converted to a signing bonus to lower the salary cap number with the player essentially making the same amount. It’s something else to say, “Take less or take a walk.”
The 49ers also asked mainstay defensive tackle Arik Armstead to take less, and he declined, was released and signed a three-year contract worth $14.5 million per year with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In the end, Juszczyk will make $4.55 million instead of $6.24 million this season on a restructured deal that is scheduled to pay him $9.1 million over the next two years, although in the NFL, it’s often a year-to-year proposition.
So shed no tears for Juszczyk. He’s still the highest-paid fullback in the NFL and his wife Kristin has supplemented their income nicely with a fashion business that exploded during the Super Bowl.
Yet on a base level, asking an athlete to take less money despite living up to the terms of his contract can bring feelings of disrespect deep enough for rancor and bitterness to set in.
If Williams and Aiyuk are miffed that raises offered to them haven’t been big enough, imagine how Juszczyk feels.
“I wasn’t too happy when I was first presented with that,” Juszczyk said. “You kind of have to work through it. I feel like I have the best opportunity in the world to play for the Niners and I do think I’m being taken care of in a good way as a fullback and I’m happy with my role.”
Juszczyk then took the whole “team first” concept to the next level.
“My ego took some shots, but I want to be on a team where all these superstars are getting paid more money because that means they did something pretty good the year before,” Juszczyk said. “I feel a part of that. I’m just happy to be on this team and have another opportunity to go to a Super Bowl.”
So Juszczyk will put his body on the line and give maximum effort as a perennial Pro Bowl player with teammates of similar stature who are getting top dollar rather than be asked to take a lesser salary.
And he’s not going to dwell on it. Juszczyk doesn’t begrudge Williams, Aiyuk, McCaffrey or players in previous seasons such as Nick Bosa, who held out last season.
“Honestly I feel kind of well versed on it and it really is something that in the locker room we don’t take personally and we understand that guys go through that stuff,” Juszczyk said.
You’d think the 49ers would do something to recognize Juszczyk’s selflessness, although we already know it won’t be in the form of a raise.
