Today the 49ers announced that former 2018 free agent signee C Weston Richburg has retired from the NFL after suffering a gruesome injury during the 2019 season when the 49ers were in New Orleans, they beat the Saints, helping them keep, and eventually get the 1 seed, but lost Richburg for the season, and it ended his career.
At the time Richburg was signed, he was one of the highest ranked & coveted free agent Centers, along with Ryan Jensen.
Richburg signed a 5-year deal, worth $9.5 million a year, while some fans believe the 49ers made a mistake, Richburg played at a very high level, maybe even All-Pro level in 2019 before his injury, and I think the signing at the time was well worth it, even in 2019 it was well worth it, but unfortunately he had a setback in 2020, and never saw the field again.
The 49ers & Richburg agreed to a restructured deal, more of a pay cut in March, where he lowered his base salary down to the league minimum of $1.075 million, along with eliminating his $100,000 workout bonus, saving the team $6.875 million, definitely a class act for a player who gave his all, but realized his career was over, so he could have said no, & forced the 49ers to designate him a post June 1 cut, with the 49ers not saving anywhere near the $6.875 million they saved.
All in all, Richburg’s retirement will free up $1.075 million in cash, and eventually cap room when the 2021 roster is set, but for now, the 49ers only save $225,000.
Here’s to Weston, and the best of luck to him in his retirement, whatever people want to say, Richburg was a very good player, and was well worth the contract he received in 2018, so thank you to Weston for risking his body, life to play a game we all love.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @49erscap, or leave a comment below, and I’ll get back to you.
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