San Francisco has taken a unique approach to free agency this offseason.
The San Francisco 49ers have had an intriguing start to the offseason, as they’ve seen quite a few key free agents depart in free agency, while electing not to be major players in signing players, instead making minor additions to their team through the first week.
That strategy has drawn a number of questions from fans, as the 49ers haven’t addressed quite a few holes, seemingly getting worse to begin the offseason, although there is quite a while away before they’ll have their full roster.
Amid the departures, one of the big notes has been the lack of spending from the team, which came after general manager John Lynch indicated the team wanted to cut back their spending and get both younger and cheaper this offseason.
Well, a recently-signed player confirmed that spending restrictions have been a thing for the 49ers this offseason, even parlaying into his own free agency.
Earlier this offseason, San Francisco approached fullback Kyle Juszczyk about a pay cut for the second straight offseason, and this time ultimately released one of their longest-tenured players after an agreement couldn’t be made.
The 49ers ended up bringing back Juszczyk over the weekend on a two-year, $8 million deal that includes $7 million guaranteed. So, the fullback got a slight paycut, but essentially got a second year guaranteed in return.
While his free agency was a frenzy, the fullback knew that the 49ers were likely going to ask him for a pay cut once again.
“[The pay cut] was just something that [the team] put on my radar and something that I needed to be prepared for,” Juszczyk said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday. “And just as things went on, just the optimist in me started telling myself that, ‘Man, I don’t think we’re gonna have to do this. It’s getting close to the actual free agency period. I haven’t heard too much. Things are kind of looking good.’
“But then they finally, a couple days before that, were like, ‘Yeah, this is a real thing. The financial restrictions we’re under are a real thing.’ And they kind of put it in my court, whether I wanted to be released or if we wanted to continue to try and negotiate a pay cut.”
Juszczyk’s note about the team’s financial restrictions is important, as it confirms the 49ers’ direction with spending this offseason, which has deviated from past years.
San Francisco has plenty of cap space this year. But, they’re looking to lower their cash spend after being in the top five over the past few seasons. That has led to a number of veteran releases, despite not having significant cap savings with those moves.
Still, they viewed Juszczyk as important enough at a position that head coach Kyle Shanahan covets to bring him back on a two-year deal, which has been the team’s biggest move of free agency thus far.
And it seemed that both sides wanted to reach an agreement, as Juszczyk returned to the 49ers despite facing serious interest from other teams, namely the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Just to put it in the simplest terms, at the end of the day, it was too much to leave home,” Juszczyk said. “I wanted to be a Niner, and we were able to get to a number that I was comfortable with. And then, we were able to make the deal, and I couldn’t be happier. And I’m trying not to look back at all. I’m just happy to be there and know I’m locked in for two more years.”