The San Francisco 49ers made the difficult decision this offseason to part ways with some of their longer tenured players. However, one of those players managed to find his way into the fold.
After refusing to settle for a pay cut, fullback Kyle Juszczyk was cut by the Niners and appeared to be headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, Juszczyk went on to change his mind and sign a two-year deal to return to San Francisco.
“It was a different experience,” Juszczyk said, according to The Athletic. “It was a chance to go look at a different team and I felt a lot of love from them. I got excited for a second about what possibly could be, about new beginnings and fitting into a new offense, all that type of stuff.
“And I genuinely enjoyed my time with Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin so much. I have so much respect for those guys. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough to trump what I had in San Francisco. I just couldn’t pull the plug.
“Even the day I was released, the door wasn’t shut. There was always an opportunity for me to come back. [49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan] was very open about that.
“We didn’t know how it was going to work out . . . though I told myself after a day or two that wasn’t going to happen. I think deep, deep down, that’s what I was hoping for, is that there would be an opportunity to come back.”
In his tenure with the Niners, Juszczyk has made eight Pro Bowls, an All-Pro team, and two Super Bowl appearances.
It’s clearly been a successful partnership, which explains why both sides were willing to look past any differences and get a deal done.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.