The Pittsburgh Steelers pursued San Francisco 49ers All-Pro fullback Kyle Juszczyk this offseason, but he ultimately decided to return to the 49ers.
Pittsburgh even offered more money to Juszczyk, but he could not see himself playing for the Steelers. Juszczyk explained why he did not sign with the Steelers to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
“It was a different experience,” Juszczyk said. “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.”
Juszczyk was a second-team All-Pro this past season, and he is a nine-time Pro Bowler over his time with the Baltimore Ravens and 49ers. The former Harvard fullback was a fourth-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Juszczyk has over 2000 receiving yards but just over 200 rushing yards. Still, across his career, he has been the best NFL fullback and scored 24 touchdowns over the last 11 years.
Juszczyk, 34, caught 19 passes for 200 yards last season. His special teams stats are dropping, too, as he only averaged about seven per game in 2024.
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