SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Many NFL players dream of hitting free agency. It’s a chance to test the open market and have multiple teams bid for your services. It can often drive up a player’s price, which is welcome news to the player and his bank account. Just ask left tackle Trent Williams, who early Wednesday morning landed a six-year, $138 million deal with the 49ers as multiple teams coveted him.
But San Francisco’s fullback Kyle Juszczyk didn’t need to hit the open market. The unrestricted free agent knew where he wanted to land from the outset. So he agreed to a new five-year deal with San Francisco on Sunday evening, hours before the league’s negotiating window opened Monday morning. It would have allowed Juszczyk to field offers from other teams like the New York Jets, who hired San Francisco’s former passing game specialist Mike LaFleur as offensive coordinator, and potentially drive up his asking price from the 49ers.
“Honestly, there’s no better fit in the league for me than San Francisco, just to be completely honest,” Juszczyk said on a Zoom call Wednesday. “Kyle (Shanahan) ... he puts together the perfect system for me to play in. And for me to go anywhere else, have to uproot my life, really, sell my house in California, find a new spot, have all new teammates, (and) begin the whole process over again ... this late in my career, there was a certain part of me that didn’t want to do that. And so if I could get that number I was happy with in San Francisco, I was just going to roll with it and just continue in a place that I’m so happy to be in.”
The number was a five-year contract worth up to $27 million with $10 million in guarantees. It made Juszczyk, who turns 30 in April, the highest paid fullback in history for the second time since 2017. If he plays out the life of his deal, the five-time Pro Bowler will have made $50.5 million over his 13-year career.
Paying a fullback that kind of money is a complicated decision that not many agree with. A number of teams have axed the position altogether, and some would prefer only to have fullbacks signing minimal contracts and not getting eight figures guaranteed.
Shanahan, of course, is an exception. He made adding Juszczyk a priority when he first got hired in 2017 by making him a key member of the team’s first free agent class weeks after he was hired. Four years later, that belief hasn’t changed.
Juszczyk’s versatility makes him emblematic of Shanahan’s offense. He can line up outside, catch deep passes downfield, play in the slot, rove as an H-back and line up in the backfield as a traditional fullback. For a team that wants to run the ball effectively as the foundation of its scheme, to set up play action and make things easier on the quarterback, Shanahan has come to view Juszczyk as an essential piece.
“I don’t think it’s a secret. I think we use the fullback more than anyone in the league,” Shanahan said at the 2019 owners meetings in Phoenix. “I’m always going to use the fullback. I believe in it strongly.”
Shanahan is considered one of the game’s premier offensive minds. But he has zagged against the trend of a league becoming more pass happy. He had no problem calling just eight pass attempts, and 42 runs, during the 37-20 thumping of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game after the 2019 season. The 49ers went to the Super Bowl that year running the ball at the second-highest clip in the league, only behind the Baltimore Ravens, who ran quarterback Lamar Jackson 176 times.
For Shanahan, using a fullback is all about dictating things to the defense.
“If you put three receivers out there, then (the defense) can run certain blitzes and stunts where you cannot run the ball,” Shanahan said. “And they can force you to pass and they can force you to do things. When you have a fullback out there, it doesn’t matter how many guys they have in the box, which is nice because if they put a lot of guys in the box it makes it easier to throw.”
The agreement of Juszczyk’s new contract was finalized Sunday, but the parameters came together Saturday, when 49ers CEO Jed York was celebrating his 40th birthday with a party attended by general manager John Lynch and Shanahan, which led to a series of Tweets indicating alcohol might have been flowing.
FaceTime calls were made, of which Juszczyk wasn’t willing to share too many details from out of respect for his bosses. But he said the celebratory mood was emblematic of the reasons he wanted to stay with the 49ers.
“They were very stoked, I was stoked,” Juszczyk said. “They were at Jed York’s 40th birthday party, so the phone got passed around, a lot of congratulations, a lot of cheers, and all those sort of things.
“Honestly, it’s so cool to be a part of that, to get FaceTimes from your owner and your GM and your head coach, and speak with their families and be comfortable. It’s like I’m speaking to my own family, you know? It’s not one of those awkward conversations that’s just, ‘Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We’re going to do great.’ It’s just real conversations and real genuine joy. That’s why I feel so connected to this program.”
49ERS ROSTER MOVES
— The 49ers on Wednesday released receiver Marquise Goodwin, according to the league’s transaction report.
Goodwin reverted back to San Francisco’s roster Tuesday. It was due to the language of the trade between the 49ers and Eagles during last year’s NFL draft that initially sent Goodwin to Philadelphia. A stipulation for the trade was not met and it caused the 49ers to lose a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, leaving them with nine total.
Goodwin opted out of last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
— San Francisco on Wednesday also agreed to a new deal for defensive tackle D.J. Jones, according to a report from NFL Network.
Jones, 26, was a sixth-round draft choice of the 49ers in 2017 out of Mississippi. He posted a career-best 3.0 sacks last season and has started 25 games over the last two years. Jones is considered a key piece of the defensive line and should allow the team to better utilize 2020 first-round pick Javon Kinlaw as a “three technique” and use Arik Armstead as a defensive end in running situations, where he is considered a difficult match up for tight ends.
The deal for Jones is believed to be for one season, allowing him to hit the free agent market again next spring.
— Former No. 3 overall draft pick Solomon Thomas landed a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, according to a report from NFL Network.
Thomas never lived up to his draft status with San Francisco recording just 6.0 sacks in his four seasons combined. He tore his ACL against the Jets in September after not missing a game in 2018 or 2019.
The Stanford alum never quite established a consistent role on the 49ers’ talented defensive line. The team tried him out as a defensive end where he never fit while there weren’t enough snaps to go around on the inside.
Thomas also lost his little sister to suicide in Jan. of 2018, which had a profound impact on his life and playing career. It led to Thomas becoming a prominent advocate for mental health awareness.
