After finishing off his eighth NFL season, tight end George Kittle revealed he wanted to finish his career where it began: with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Niners announced Tuesday that Kittle took a significant step towards reaching that goal as he signed a four-year contract extension to keep him alongside the only NFL team he’s ever known throughout the 2029 season. Kittle previously told the “Bussin ‘With The Boys” podcast that the deal is worth $76.4 million.
The extension includes a $40 million bond, and Kittle says it will almost certainly cut Kittle’s previously scheduled salary cap for 2025 for $22,085,000. That cap hit is above his previous best cap hits below $10 million.
“In 2017, in the first year of the 49ers, we chose a slim tight end from Iowa, where we were really excited,” GM John Lynch said in a statement. “We had high hopes, but no one knew he would become the player he is today.
“He takes great pride in his role and is falling into this job to become one of the best tight ends in the NFL.”
Kittle, 31, had vowed to continue playing “until the wheels fell” in the position to play his entire career with the team that selected him on the fifth pick.
“My goal is to wear red and gold for my entire career,” Kittle told ESPN on January 5th.
Even if the extension doesn’t guarantee that it will happen, it definitely gives Kittle a shorter-term goal: a strong chance to join the 49ers 10-year club. The club honors players who have played for at least 10 consecutive seasons in San Francisco and include 51 players since the team’s start in 1946. No one has added any club since working on Joe Staley in 2017.
Kittle is scheduled to enter his ninth season in 2025. This means that he will only have to play one of the additional years added to his deals to become the next member. It’s Kittle, known as “my big goal.”
If Kittle continues to be close to his current orbit, he should have no problem pushing to a decade after San Francisco, as he is away from one of his best seasons.
In 2024, Kittle ranked third among tight ends in receiving yards (1,106), tied second (8) on touchdowns, and placed first with one yard (14.2) per reception, whilst remaining a key blocker in San Francisco’s rushing offense. With that production, he earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection and another All-Pro honor (his fifth nod on the second team, first or second All-Pro team).
Kittle will also be one of five tight ends in league history with four or more 1,000-yard reception seasons, alongside Travis Kells (7), Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten (4 each). He also outperformed Gronkowski for receiving yards in his first eight seasons in the NFL (7,380) for the second-ever on tight ends in his first eight seasons in the NFL, chasing only Kelse.
“[He’s] Linebacker Fred Warner said “it’s good over time.” He’s at work. He has always been great, but the fact that he is making the play he is making at this point in his career was phenomenal. ”
