5 SF 49ers free agents who follow Robert Saleh to NY Jets

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Running back Kyle Juszczyk #44 of the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Arizona Cardinals (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

No. 2: SF 49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk

This might come as a surprise, mostly because Robert Saleh is a defensive coach and fullback Kyle Juszczyk is anything but a defensive player. But a hidden component of the hiring of Saleh is the poaching of SF 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur as offensive coordinator of the Jets.

LaFleur will likely, in what will be his first opportunity to call plays of his own, replicate much of the SF 49ers scheme head coach Kyle Shanahan runs in his early going before diversifying on his own later on once he gains a stronger command of the situation.

That points squarely in the direction at fullback.

A lot of the positionless facet of the SF 49ers offense run by Shanahan comes from the versatility of Juszczyk, who was paid during his four-year tenure with San Francisco for that versatility, given his $4.5 million salary far and away the highest of any fullback.

But the SF 49ers aren’t in 2017 anymore, and money is not easily accessible like it was during the beginning of the rebuild. If Juszczyk is looking for money like that, the Niners will not be easy to get it from.

A team that is in the situation the 2017 SF 49ers were in is… the Jets.

With money to burn right now, these types of overpays are likely to happen, and if LaFleur thinks Juszczyk is the key to start his offense off right, “Juice” might be heading out to the East Coast.