Woah. 49ers running back Raheem Mostert has requested a trade, per his agent Brett Tessler. Mostert, who was cut from a half-dozen teams before signing a three-year, $8.65 million extension with the 49ers, could apparently not get another one done. Mostert has two years left on his current deal, per OverTheCap with cap hits of $3.158 million in 2020 and $3.508 million in 2021, giving the 49ers leverage in negotiations.
Tessler cited that Mostert’s contract was paying him more as an elite special teams player than as a running back, which comprised the bulk of Mostert’s duties before the season.
After months of unproductive talks with the 49ers about fairly adjusting Raheem Mostert's contract (which paid him for special teams) we have requested a trade. Disappointing that it would come to this for a guy who led all NFL RBs in YPC & helped lead them to the Super Bowl.
— Brett Tessler (@TesslerSports) July 8, 2020
Before last season, Mostert had just 35 rushing attempts in his career and a single career touchdown. Including the playoffs, Mostert ran for 1,106 yards and 13 touchdowns, along with 188 receiving yards. His average yards per carry last season was an astounding 5.6 yards in the regular season (second only to Lamar Jackson’s 6.9 yards per carry) and 6.3 yards in the postseason (4th, but with the second-most total yards at 336).
Mostert, per OverTheCap, has the 25th-highest per year contract value among all NFL running backs, behind former teammate Matt Breida and current teammate Tevin Coleman, who the 49ers declined to cut, and who the 49ers allowed $2 million of his contract to guarantee this offseason.
The 49ers are notoriously difficult to negotiate with from a player and agent perspective, with Paraag Marathe, theExecutive Vice President of Football Operations, having a reputation for effectively executing team-friendly deals and giving the 49ers outs in deals even when the initial numbers of the deals may be pricey.
Rather than extend or restructure the contract of Jimmy Garoppolo in order to create further cap space for a DeForest Buckner and/or George Kittle extension, the 49ers traded Buckner. They still have yet to agree to an extension with Kittle, though discussions are ongoing.