Despite taking a visit to the Steelers, 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk never wanted to depart San Francisco when he was briefly made a free agent in March.
“It was the worst three days of my life, but I’m genuinely grateful for it now,” said Jusczyzk in an interview with The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. Though he knew “the door wasn’t shut” when he was released by the 49ers, he still said his goodbyes and thought of other options.
While there was interest from other teams, Juszczyk accepted an invite from the Steelers and met with head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
“It was a special experience,” said Juszczyk of his visit to Pittsburgh. “It was a probability to go take a look at a special team and I felt lots of love from them. I got excited for a second about what possibly may very well be, about latest beginnings and fitting right into a latest offense, all that form of stuff.”
Nevertheless, Juszcyzk couldn’t envision himself playing anywhere except San Francisco, and just a few days later, he signed a two-year, $7.5MM deal to return for his ninth season with the 49ers. With $7MM of guaranteed money – including $3.15MM within the second 12 months – he’s confident that he won’t should take care of an analogous situation next offseason.
As a substitute, he can have two more years as a moveable blocking and receiving weapon in Kyle Shanahan‘s offense, which is expecting a bounce-back 12 months with the return of Christian McCaffrey.
Jusczyzk said that McCaffrey is “arguably the very best player within the NFL” and “changes the whole lot” for the 49ers offense. Each participated within the team’s offseason workouts, though McCaffrey’s workload is being rigorously managed after his recent injury woes.
“He looks so healthy, he looks so explosive,” said Juszcyzk.