Shanahan, York grateful Juszczyk accepted 49ers' pay-cut proposal
Shanahan, York grateful Juszczyk accepted 49ers' pay-cut proposal originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
ORLANDO, Fla. — Kyle Juszczyk is invaluable to the 49ers for more reason than one.
The All-Pro fullback agreed to a salary reduction on his existing contract in order to help the team stay under the NFL salary cap in 2024 and plan for the future.
On Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting, coach Kyle Shanahan expressed how vital Juszczyk agreeing to a paycut is to San Francisco's present and future.
“It’s huge,” Shanahan said. “Kyle is a big part of this team, and has been since we got here. We would have hated to lose him. For Kyle to do that, it was great for us, great for him to stay with us. I’m really happy he decided to do that.”
The fullback signed a five-year, $27 million contract in 2021 that has now been reduced approximately $3.4 million in total earnings according to overthecap.com. Juszczyk’s willingness to adjust saved the team $4 million against the 2024 league salary cap of $255.4 million.
While the 49ers currently are under the cap, the space they have created will rollover and help the organization's ability to pay quarterback Brock Purdy in 2025 when his affordable rookie contract comes to an end.
Team owner and CEO Jed York is thankful for the assist from Juszczyk and is proud of the environment that the franchise has built promoting a “team-first” mentality. York understands how it gives the organization a competitive edge in the league.
“I think those are little things that give us an advantage,” York said. “To sort of stay in that mix, stay in that hunt where your window of winning a Super Bowl can be extended because guys are willing to work with you to stay on the team and also give you the room to be able to go attract more people to be able to come in to the club.”
York shared that the relationship is not one-sided, with the club doing what it can to help their own. Kyle’s wife Kristin was a featured panelist at the Annual Meeting discussing the journey of her clothing designs with plans of creating an entire line that would be a collaboration with the NFL.
While San Francisco can't compensate her financially, they have held events featuring her work with Women of the Niners (WON), the 49ers fan club, and supported her with league ventures such as the panel, giving her a platform to promote her business.
“I want to make sure [players] have great careers and make a lot of money,” York said. “But I also want to make sure that guys like Kyle, he’s here with his wife this week, she’s building out a business, if we can help, whether it’s a player or a player’s spouse, help them grow their business, we want to be able to do that. We want to be a family atmosphere.
“And they show that it’s a family atmosphere on their side as well where they are willing to make adjustments so we can do what we can to try and go win a Super Bowl.”
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