Raheem Mostert Has Demanded a Trade From the 49ers
Raheem Mostert was a revelation for the San Francisco 49ers during the 2019 NFL season, jumping from a special teams guy to the team's best running back. Now Mostert wants a raise the 49ers appear unwilling to give him. As a result, he formally asked the franchise to trade him on Wednesday.
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
Mostert was huge for San Francisco during the team's run to the Super Bowl, rushing for 336 yards and five touchdowns in three postseason games. He ran 220 yards and four touchdowns in a star-making performance during the NFC Championship Game.
During the regular season, Mostert racked up 952 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns. He was a key weapon on a team that desperately needed one out of the backfield down the stretch.
Mostert was undrafted out of Purdue in 2015 and was on six different rosters before finally landing with the 49ers in 2016. He signed a three-year deal with the team before the 2019 season that will pay him a base salary of $2.575 million in 2020, but obviously his role has changed. Apparently he just wanted to be paid like the team's other top running back:
Spoke with @TesslerSports about RB Raheem Mostert and his trade demand from #49ers. His request was simply to bring Mostert in line with the highest paid RBs on the team. Tevin Coleman makes $4.55M in 2020 and that’s where Mostert wants to be. He has two years left on his deal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 8, 2020
That's an incredibly reasonable demand. It's less than a $2 million raise. I have no idea what the 49ers are thinking here.
Frankly, after what he did in 2019, Mostert deserves a new contract that will pay him like a starting running back. He's already 28 and needs to get paid now.