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49ers long snapper Taybor Pepper elected not to hit restricted free agency, and instead took a two-year contract to return to San Francisco.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport after the signing reported Pepper avoided restricted free agency and took a contract instead that came with guaranteed money he likely wouldn’t have gotten on the RFA market.
ESPN’s Field Yates on Tuesday reported some additional contract details for the 26-year-old. According to Yates, Pepper’s two-year deal is worth up to $2.08 million with an $80,000 signing bonus. The long snapper will receive a $920,000 salary in 2021 with $202,000 guaranteed.
It’s good news for San Francisco that the long snapper spot didn’t become a long-term issue they had to add to an already full plate of offseason priorities. Long snapper Kyle Nelson was suspended late in 2018 for 10 games that spanned the final four of the 2018 campaign and the first six of 2019. While he was out in 2019, San Francisco went through three long snappers while they tried to nail down a viable solution.
Nelson returned and played well until a Week 3 disaster in 2020 where he sprayed several errant snaps in a blowout win over the Giants. While the bad snaps didn’t cost the 49ers, they weren’t going to take chances. They cut the veteran and signed Pepper, who was rock solid over his final 12 games. He missed the season finale on the COVID-19 list.
Pepper solidified a position that was a thorn in San Francisco’s side for parts of three seasons. His importance for the 49ers is shown in the details of his two-year deal.