{"id":7725,"date":"2024-12-05T04:10:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T04:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7725"},"modified":"2024-12-05T04:10:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T04:10:40","slug":"breaking-49ers-rb-jordan-mason-projected-to-join-nfc-rival-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7725","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: 49ers RB Jordan Mason Projected to Join NFC Rival in Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AI-images-27.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/\">San Francisco 49ers<\/a>\u00a0could say goodbye to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jordan-mason\/\">RB Jordan Mason<\/a>, one of their most productive offensive players, in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>The 49ers will have a hectic offseason that could see them extend\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/brock-purdy\/\">QB Brock Purdy<\/a>\u00a0and potentially commit to a significant amount of roster turnover. One name that Bleacher Report\u2019s Scouting Department believes could leave is Mason, and they are projecting him to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/minnesota-vikings\/\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/aaron-jones\/\">Aaron Jones<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/cam-akers\/\">Cam Akers<\/a>\u00a0are impending free agents, so Minnesota will likely be in the market for a new running back this offseason,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10144828-nfl-team-needs-prioritizing-every-rosters-biggest-weaknesses-before-week-14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">a December 2 article reads.<\/a> \u201cMason is a restricted free agent, so San Francisco could match any offer he receives in free agency, but the 49ers also have several other players whose contracts are expiring and might be higher priorities than their backup running back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason has been a massive part of the 49ers\u2019 2024 campaign after RB\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/christian-mccaffrey\/\">Christian McCaffrey<\/a>\u00a0dealt with bilateral Achilles tendinitis. Both players were put on the injured reserve this week, which only makes Mason\u2019s future with the team less certain.<\/p>\n<h2>Mason Takes Advantage of Massive Opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>It was a surprise for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/john-lynch-buffalo-bills-roster-penalties\/\">the 49ers<\/a>\u00a0when McCaffrey\u2019s Achilles injury worsened and eventually ruled him out for half the season. Even with Purdy and several talented receivers, the Niners are a run-first team and were going to need Mason to come through in a big way.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s safe to say he did. Mason was a force of nature for the first six weeks, totaling 609 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. He did slow down due to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/jordan-mason-kyle-shanahan-seattle-seahawks\/\">sprain AC joint<\/a> and the return of McCaffrey, but it was clear that he could handle a feature-back\u2019s workload.<\/p>\n<p>That was even proven against the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/buffalo-bills\/\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>. Before his most recent ankle sprain against the Bills, Mason took 13 carries for 78 yards.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a clear gap in talent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/christian-mccaffrey-season-ending-pcl-injury\/\">between McCaffrey and Mason<\/a>. But Mason is a reliable RB and that is hard to come by in the NFL. Letting him walk could be something the 49ers could regret.<\/p>\n<h2>What 49ers May Have to Pay Mason<\/h2>\n<p>While it\u2019s definitely due to the team\u2019s injury woes, Mason will end the season as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/dre-greenlaw-miami-dolphins-roster-mcdaniel\/\">the Niners\u2019<\/a>\u00a0leading rusher. That doesn\u2019t mean he would see a bigger role with a healthy McCaffrey, but it does mean that he will command a pay raise for his second NFL contract.<\/p>\n<p>Mason\u2019s rookie deal is a three-year, $2.57 million contract according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/overthecap.com\/player\/jordan-mason\/10413#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Over the Cap<\/a>. Like with Purdy, the 49ers has gotten tremendous value out of that deal. However, OTC projects that Mason has been worth about $6.4 million based on his 2024 performance.<\/p>\n<p>That isn\u2019t an insane amount for a general NFL contract, but it is quite a lot for a backup RB. If the Niners were in a true two-back system with another RB under a cheap contract, it would be easy for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/retirement-injury-roster-jon-feliciano-shanahan\/\">San Francisco<\/a>\u00a0to pay Mason.<\/p>\n<p>But McCaffrey will count as a $9.8 million cap hit in 2025 and will still be under contract for two years after that. San Francisco has already committed plenty of money to their offensive weapons, and Mason may not fit in the 2025 budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason The\u00a0San Francisco 49ers\u00a0could say goodbye to\u00a0RB Jordan Mason, one of their most productive offensive players, in the near future. The 49ers&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: 49ers RB Jordan Mason Projected to Join NFC Rival in Free Agency - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=7725\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: 49ers RB Jordan Mason Projected to Join NFC Rival in Free Agency - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason The\u00a0San Francisco 49ers\u00a0could say goodbye to\u00a0RB Jordan Mason, one of their most productive offensive players, in the near future. 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