Maybe you shouldn't clear your Friday schedule just yet to celebrate the San Francisco 49ers' signing of tight end George Kittle to a long-term deal.
Early on Wednesday, it sounded like the two sides were on the cusp of a contract extension when Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated reported that the 49ers would announce a six-year deal worth $94.8 million on Friday, per a source that texted him the information.
Not only that, Cohn had a lot of details surrounding the rumored contract. Items like a $25 million signing bonus, the impact on the 49ers' salary cap in 2021, and how much of the deal — $47.4 million — was guaranteed.
Less than an hour after the initial report, Kittle seemingly shot down the rumor, while replying to our posting of it, by the way (yay).
Y'all believe everything you read on the internet huh 😑 https://t.co/2TcAdjKjN5
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) August 12, 2020
Later, two other reports, one from Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area and the other from Mike Silver of NFL Network, stated that there has been progress in the negotiations, per sources, but wouldn't go as far as saying anything was imminent.
"I'm told the 49ers and George Kittle are 'making progress' on a lucrative contract extension," Silver tweeted while referencing the initial report from Sports Illustrated.
In reference to the @grantcohn report: I'm told the 49ers and George Kittle are 'making progress' on a lucrative contract extension... which means the 🐛 emoji may be obsolete. He's on track to be the highest-paid TE in league history, by far.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) August 12, 2020
David Lombardi of The Athletic takes it a step further, reporting that a source close to the negotiations informed him that the report is "incorrect across the board."
For now, all fans can do is wait to see what happens — if anything — on Friday or over the weekend.
There. You are all caught up now.
