Chris Borland says he's returning most of signing bonus to 49ers

Chris Borland shocked the NFL world when he abruptly retired from football after just one year with the 49ers. He didn't just walk away from millions -- he's going to return money as well.

During an interview Sunday morning, Borland told CBS News' Face the Nation he is returning three-fourths of his signing bonus to the 49ers.

It was thought the team could attempt to require Borland to return the signing bonus since he didn't play out the full length of his contract.

That wouldn't have played very well for the team publicly. Borland doing the noble thing here is impressive. 

Borland received a $617,436 signing bonus when he inked a four-year rookie deal with the Niners coming out of college. He'll be returning $463,077 to the team assuming his three-quarters number is spot on.

That's a huge chunk of change, but it's likely the 49ers could've recovered it from him anyway, although litigating the money back from Borland would've been a messy affair.