A contract extension for tight end George Kittle is the biggest remaining domino to fall in the 49ers’ offseason checklist. Talks between the club and their All-Pro tight end aren’t progressing very quickly according to NFL Media’s Mike Silver.
Silver said Friday on NFL Network that Kittle and the 49ers are “not close at all” after preliminary talks in February failed and then petered out over the months since.
The @49ers and @gkittle46 remain far apart on a contract extension… and Kittle's agent says a 'tight-end deal' is a non-starter. @nflnetwork @NFLTotalAccess pic.twitter.com/pAOqDbu5KL
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) May 29, 2020
The issue appears to be the two sides trying to land on a measuring stick for Kittle’s contract. He plays tight end, so typically his deal would get measured against the rest of the league’s tight ends. However, Kittle is such an effective blocker and the team’s No. 1 pass catching target that it stands to reason he earns something well north of top tight end money and something closer to top wide receiver money.
Austin Hooper reset the tight end market this offseason when he signed in Cleveland for four years, $44 million and $23 million guaranteed. Kittle’s aiming for something well north of that.
His 2,430 receiving yards are the sixth most in the NFL over the last two seasons. His 13.6 yards per reception are the ninth most in the NFL over the last three years among all pass catchers with at least 180 catches.
Kittle also graded out as the best overall player in the NFL in 2019 according to analytics site Pro Football Focus, and his value to the 49ers’ offense as a run blocker is akin to that of a top-end offensive lineman.
General manager John Lynch was on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco on April 30 and was steadfast in his belief that Kittle would be in a 49ers uniform for the long-term.
“George isn’t going anywhere,” Lynch said. “We’re going to work hard to try to get it done. I think they’ve got motivation just to really reset the tight end market, as do we, for him. It’s just finding that sweet spot, where that is.”
That sweet spot may fall somewhere in the range of a top-five wide receiver. It wouldn’t be outlandish if Kittle’s starting point was a player like Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, who inked a five-year, $85 million extension with $55 million guaranteed prior to the 2018 campaign. An AAV of $17 million is a ton for a tight end, but it becomes a more reasonable number when viewing the bigger picture of his fit in the offense.
There are a few reasons a deal may be delayed. The global COVID-19 pandemic has ground sports leagues to a halt and thrown the financial future of teams and leagues into chaos. If fans don’t attend games at all in 2020, which is a real possibility, there could be some heavy ramifications for the salary cap. It would make sense for the 49ers to proceed with some caution before handcuffing themselves against the cap with a huge deal for Kittle.
It makes sense if Kittle’s camp wants to get a deal done before this season to lock in some security for the fourth-year tight end. He does have one more year on his rookie deal though, so an extension isn’t imperative for San Francisco. They could try to kick the can down the road into next offseason to see if they have more answers about what the cap figure will look like in 2021 and beyond.
While both sides are not close, Silver said there’s still mutual interest in getting a deal done.
“You talk to the 49ers, they say ‘we want him. We will get this done,'” Silver said. “I know George Kittle wants to be there, but they have a ways to go in terms of figuring out his value.”
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