49ers Running Back Raheem Mostert Seeking Trade After Lack Of Progress On Restructured Contract
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert, whose late season surge and playoff heroics led the team to the Super Bowl, is requesting a trade after unsuccessful attempts to rework his contract.
Mostert's agent Brett Tessler announced Wednesday on Twitter that the trade request comes "after months of unproductive talks with the 49ers about fairly adjusting" his contract.
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
"Disappointing that it would come to this for a guy who led all NFL RBs in YPC & helped lead them to the Super Bowl," Tessler tweeted.
After being cut by six teams and carrying the ball only eight times his first three seasons in the NFL, Mostert was a key part of San Francisco's NFC title-winning season in his fifth year in 2019.
Mostert led the 49ers with 772 yards and topped the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns from week 12 through postseason. He also set a team record with 220 yards rushing in the 49ers' NFC Championship victory over the Green Bay Packers.
The 49ers are scheduled to pay Mostert $2.575 million this season and $2.875 million in 2021 as part of a three-year contract he signed last year. His annual average contract value makes him the fourth-highest-paid running back on the 49ers, behind Jerick McKinnon, Kyle Juszczyk, and Tevin Coleman. McKinnon has not played the last two seasons because of injuries. In April, the 49ers traded running back Matt Breida to the Miami Dolphins.
In May, Mostert revealed that the specter of returning to play amid the coronavirus pandemic had raised an emotional response from his family, telling reporters that fears over the threat of the virus has brought his wife to tears.
Mostert also cancelled a March appearance at an autograph show at the Santa Clara County Convention Center because of those concerns. It was more than 10 days before Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state-wide shelter-in-place order, grinding all sports to a halt.