Kyle Juszczyk's course remains set for free agency. The San Francisco 49ers hope to retain their highly-valued fullback. That might be difficult given the upcoming salary-cap constraints due to the pandemic's impact on the 2020 season. The 49ers have several impending free agents they would like to bring back. Juszczyk has been such a fixture within head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense over the past four years that it's difficult to imagine it without him.
Juszczyk is already the highest-paid fullback by a significant margin, which isn't likely to change with his next contract. Shanahan may look to rework his offense to be less dependent on a dominant fullback like Juszczyk. However, ideally, Juszczyk would stay put.
Josina Anderson, the host of the Undefined with Josina Anderson show and podcast, reports that the 49ers and Juszczyk have had "a few preliminary exchanges," discussing a potential return. San Francisco is waiting to see how the fullback might fit into their budget.
My understanding is there's been a few preliminary exchanges b/w the #49ers & impending free agent FB Kyle Juszczyk on a deal for his potential return. As of Mon. the wait continued to ascertain how K.J. fits into the team's budget relative to the 2021 cap minimum of $180M (1/2).
— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) February 23, 2021
The NFL and NFLPA informed teams last week that the salary cap floor would rise by $5 million to $180 million. It could be higher, though. That's why the 49ers — and several other cap-strapped teams — are in a holding pattern.
Anderson's report matches up with what Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported last week.
"I can tell you that Juszczyk and the 49ers have had some preliminary talks, but we're nowhere near the serious discussion stage," wrote Barrows. "Free agency, after all, begins a week or so later (March 17) than it usually does."
Still, Juszczyk remains a priority for the 49ers.
"He's important to us, and we're going to make every effort to try to keep him here," general manager John Lynch said in January. "I'm sure there'll be competition, and we understand that, but Kyle's a real important player to this football team, and we'll do everything we can to keep him here."
Anderson describes the preliminary talks between Juszczyk and the 49ers as "pleasant."
(2/2 cont.) Juszczyk is happy to return to the #49ers, talks have been pleasant, meanwhile the opportunity to test the free agent market is there as well.
— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) February 23, 2021
Juszczyk would like to return to the 49ers but will consider his family situation in any decision.
"I've been lucky enough to have the career that I've had these past eight years that I'm definitely going to have a lot of options," Juszczyk recently said during a podcast interview. "But I also absolutely love San Francisco. I love playing for Kyle. I love playing for Mike McDaniel. Bobby Turner, my running back coach, is an absolute OG. I want to send him out the right way.
"But there's a lot more factors that come into play now. I'm 29 years old. I've been married for a while. We want to start a family soon. It's tough because our whole family is on the East Coast, and being out there on the West Coast, it's tough to really have our first child and basically be alone. That's something I have to think about and weigh in on my decision."