Who Should I Start? Patrick Taylor or Jordan Mason

Monday, March 10, 4:14 PM

The San Francisco 49ers agreed to an undisclosed one-year contract extension on Monday with running back Patrick Taylor Jr., according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Taylor will give the Niners additional running back depth behind Christian McCaffrey (knee) and Isaac Guerendo after Elijah Mitchell signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency on Monday. Jordan Mason is a restricted free agent and should also return to the team in 2025 unless he's traded. Taylor, 25, went undrafted out of Memphis before latching on with the Green Bay Packers in 2021. Last year in his first year in the Bay Area, Taylor appeared in 13 games (one start) and had a career-high 183 rushing yards and one touchdown on 39 rushing attempts. He also added three catches for 25 yards in his fourth year in the NFL. One hundred and nine of Taylor's rushing yards in 2024 came late in the year in the win over the Cardinals.

Saturday, March 15, 10:52 PM

The Minnesota Vikings acquired running back Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday and signed him to a two-year deal with over $7 million fully guaranteed at signing, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The maximum value of the deal is for $12 million. The Niners placed a second-round tender (worth $5.3 million) on Mason, who was a restricted free agent, but he'll now head to the NFC North, where he'll serve as the backup to Aaron Jones. San Fran also sent the 187th pick in this year's draft in exchange for the 160th pick in the draft and a sixth-round pick in 2026. The 25-year-old was one of the best waiver-wire pickups in fantasy a year ago after taking over for Christian McCaffrey as the Niners' lead back. He had 789 rushing yards and three TDs on 153 carries in 12 games (six starts) before ending the year with an ankle injury. Mason won't have much standalone fantasy value in 2025 but will be a fine handcuff for those that roster Jones.