The unrestricted free agent fullback market is slated to be a little more crowded following the report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the San Francisco 49ers have informed nine-time Pro Bowler and former Baltimore Ravens fullback Kyle Juszcyk that he is being released on Tuesday night.
Despite coming off a 2024 season where he was voted to his ninth straight Pro Bowl, the 12-year veteran will hit free agency for the first time in nearly a decade and plans on continuing his playing career.
Juszcyk was originally drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Harvard. He played the first four years of his career and made his first-ever Pro Bowl as a member of the Charm City franchise.
During the past eight seasons with the 49ers, he became widely recognized as one of, if not the best at his position and played in two Super Bowls. He became the first fullback to be voted to the Associated Press All Pro First Team in 2023 and received Second Team honors in 2024.
The 33-year-old swiss-army knife blocking and pass-catching weapon will join a free agent market that currently includes Ravens five-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard who beat him out for First Team All Pro honors in 2024.
It will be curious to see how this development impacts the former converted defensive lineman’s market, if at all. Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta expressed a lot of confidence in getting a deal done to retain him when talking to reporters at his end-of-season press conference in late January.
“We haven’t had those discussions yet,” DeCosta said. “His agent is a good friend of mine, and I think Pat [Ricard] knows how we feel about him, and I would for him to retire as a Raven, too. He optimizes everything that we’re all about. And he’s another undrafted guy who just became – in my opinion – the best at his position. So, we’ll have those discussions. This is not the first time he’s been a free agent. In fact, I think he’s signed at least two deals with us after his rookie deal, so this is probably his fourth contract now with us – if we can get him signed – and I would say that would be the goal.”
Juszczyk is the more dynamic of the two when it comes to being a viable and dangerous pass-catching threat. Bringing him back could unlock another dimension in the third year of Todd Monken’s offense especially if the Ravens move on from three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews to create cap space. However, Ricard has been integral to the team’s historic rushing success over the past seven seasons since Lamar Jackson became the full-time starter and formed a punishing pairing with five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry last season.
Even though the fullback position has seen somewhat of a resurgence in recent years with the renaissance of the running game, it’s still not one that is in high demand nor does it command a cost-prohibitive average annual salary. Juszczyk’s highest annual earnings of his career were just north of $5.4 million compared to Ricard who averaged $3.75 million. Neither would be expensive to sign so it essentially boils down to factors such as preference, potentially age who provides greater schematic flexibility or who is willing to take the least amount between them.
