Kyle Juszczyk is wasting little time in his pursuit of a Super Bowl ring as he is following up being cut by the San Francisco 49ers by taking a cross-country trip to see the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 49ers informed Juszczyk this week that he was being released, sending the 33-year-old fullback into free agency.
At the end of the season, Juszczyk told ESPN that he has no doubt he can still be an effective NFL contributor.
“I know I’m not done,” Juszczyk said 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.”
It was a year ago when Juszczyk and the 49ers nearly parted ways before he opted to take a pay cut to stay on.
This time around with the Niners seemingly in controversial “Blow It Up” mode as they are stripping down the roster, there was apparently no such proposal made to Juszczyk, who was due to count $6.5 million against the 2025 salary cap.
Juszczyk’s release means the Niners will save $2.9 million against this year’s cap but will deal with a dead money charge of $3.6 million.
And it means Juszczyk will be going ring-chasing somewhere else … Starting on Thursday with a visit to the Steel City.
Juszczyk was named to the Pro Bowl following each of his eight seasons in San Francisco … and he was honored as an All-Pro in 2023 and in 2024. So … the league obviously thinks he can still play.
Over the course of his time with the team, he rushed for 212 yards and added 184 catches for 1,895 receiving yards and a total of 13 TDs.
During his career in The Bay, the Niners have been close to winning The Big Game; Juszczyk has been on the losing end in two Super Bowls.
“I want to win a ring,” Juszczyk said at season’s end.”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.”
Starting, maybe … with the Steelers.
