It was learned in late April that the San Francisco 49ers and George Kittle had agreed to a four-year, $76.4M contract extension that made him the league’s highest-paid tight end and included $40M guaranteed.
The fact that the deal got done before May suggested that the two sides went through a relatively easy negotiating process. However, ESPN’s Nick Wagoner shared in a piece published on Friday that Kittle recently revealed it is “‘fair to say’ there was at least a minor disagreement on his value” before he inked the extension.
“It’s somewhere that I want to be for as long as I possibly can be because I go to work every single morning and I look up and I’m walking into Levi’s Stadium as my office,” Kittle said about staying with what’s been his only NFL home since the 49ers made him a fifth-round pick during the 2017 draft. “I am just so beyond lucky, and I am so happy to be able to be here for longer.”
For a different ESPN piece posted on Friday, league executives, coaches and scouts surveyed by the network ranked Kittle as the league’s second-best tight end behind only second-year pro Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders. Per the StatMuse website, Kittle finished last season ranked third among players at the position with 1,106 receiving yards, fifth with 78 receptions and tied for second with eight touchdown catches.
“Old school, do-it-all tight end who takes pride in both parts of the tight end position: blocking and receiving. Something you rarely see in today’s game,” one former NFL tight end recently said about Kittle while speaking with Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated. “Also fun to watch with the ball in his hands.”
Kittle turns 32 years old this coming October, but he indicated back in June that he wants to continue playing until he doesn’t “have fun anymore” or until his wife essentially tells him his days of being a significant offensive contributor are done. He expanded on his mindset during his chat with Wagoner.
“I had a dream of playing NFL football when I was a kid,” Kittle told Wagoner. “I just love the game so much and I’ve been blessed enough to have this opportunity and I feel like it’s up to me to decide whether the window’s closed or my time is coming to an end … I’m literally living my dream, so why would I not want to be the best version of myself that I can be?”
The injury crisis that sunk San Francisco’s 2024 season is now in the past. As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the 49ers tied for fourth among the betting favorites at +1000 odds (with the Green Bay Packers) to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LX. Kittle’s presence is a major reason many analysts believe the Niners will enjoy a bounce-back campaign later this year.
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