SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- As Kyle Juszczyk walked to the bus to leave State Farm Stadium after the San Francisco 49ers' 2024 season ended, he carried with him plenty of uncertainty about what was next.
As it turned out, Juszczyk's suspicion that he might have just played his final game as a Niner was correct. The 49ers informed Juszczyk on Monday night that he is being released, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Juszczyk, 33, told ESPN after that season-ending loss to the Arizona Cardinals that he plans to continue playing in 2025 no matter what team he's on, a sentiment also shared by Schefter's source.
"I know I'm not done," Juszczyk said on Jan. 5. "I'm definitely not done playing. I've seen zero regression. I think especially, I mean, you can turn on the last two games and please show me where I've regressed, so I have no plans of stopping."
Juszczyk and the 49ers nearly parted ways last offseason before Juszczyk agreed to take a pay cut to stay with the team. It seemed a similar agreement would be needed this offseason for Juszczyk to stick around for a ninth season in San Francisco, though that did not materialize.
Juszczyk was due to count $6,496,750 on the 2025 salary cap and has void years on the deal through 2028 that would cost an addition $1,674,00 against the cap in 2026 after his contract was set to expire. Juszczyk's release means the Niners will save $2,926,000 against this year's cap with an immediate dead money charge of $3,570,750.
The move comes after an eight-season union in which Juszczyk was one of the first free agents that coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch signed upon taking over in 2017.
Juszczyk was named to the Pro Bowl after all eight of those seasons and was First team All Pro in 2023 and second team All Pro in 2024. He had 212 yards and five touchdowns on 60 carries with 184 catches for 1,895 yards and 13 scores in his time with the team.
At the NFL scouting combine in February, Lynch hinted that Juszczyk might be moving on and that seemed a more realistic possibility when the team agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $20.3 million with tight end Luke Farrell on Monday. Farrell could handle some of Juszczyk's former blocking duties.
"We're trying to make everything work and [with] some tighter constraints than we've had in the past," Lynch said then.
Juszczyk will also come up just short of landing a spot on the Niners' 10-year club, which honors players who have played at least 10 consecutive seasons in San Francisco and hasn't added any new members since Joe Staley in 2017.
Perhaps more bothersome for Juszczyk is the fact that he was part of a core that came close to winning the Super Bowl on multiple occasions -- including two losses in the big game -- and was never able to get over the hump.
"I want to win a ring," Juszczyk said in January. "I want to win a ring here. But again, if I'm forced to do it somewhere else, I've still got so much football left in me. I still love the game so much. I'm still playing at a high level and I know there's teams out there that can use me."
