San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk is recognized as vital to the team’s offense, but he still had to take a pay cut this offseason. The veteran is not hiding how much that hurt him, either.
Juszczyk told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area that it “hurt” and was definitely a blow to his ego when the 49ers came to him asking him to take a pay cut. He made clear, however, that there were no hard feelings, and that the 49ers made sure he was still the highest-paid fullback in the sport.
“Honestly, it hurt,” Juszczyk said, as transcribed by Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports. “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.”
The 33-year-old ultimately took a deal that saved the 49ers about $4 million in cap space. His restructured contract essentially works as a two-year deal worth $9.1 million.
Juszczyk is an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, so it is easy to understand his reluctance to take a pay cut. However, he is unlikely to find a better situation for himself than the one he has with the Niners.
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