An underrated departure that stings the 49ers a bit is running back Jordan Mason.

The 49ers traded him and a sixth-round draft choice to the Vikings in exchange for a fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Hardly much, but it’s something.

Letting him go could come back to haunt the 49ers. Typically, letting a running back go shouldn’t be a big deal, but the 49ers have a lot of injury concerns at the position.

Christian McCaffrey could very well be an injury-prone player, and Isaac Guerendo didn’t instill any confidence with his health either. Retaining Mason would’ve been to maintain amazing and necessary depth.

Kyle Shanahan wouldn’t have minded that. Trading him away is something he didn’t want to do, but knew the 49ers had to do.

“I didn’t want to let Jordan Mason go,” said Shanahan at the NFL owners meetings. “Jordan’s a very, very good player, but it was just with the price with the backfield and where that was going with everything, and having to tender him as a two, knowing he wouldn’t get taken and where that price went. We had to do that financially.”

I get paying a running back $5 million who isn’t your starter is wild. The 49ers do have Guerendo and can find another late-round running back to add depth.

However, there is no guarantee the 49ers come close to finding a player half as good as Mason. At least, the 49ers knew he was an amazing player when they needed him.

Sure, he is fairly costly, but it could’ve been understood for why they kept him. They just couldn’t stomach paying him much and figured they could trade him to get something instead of nothing.