Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is pretty excited this morning. His team locked up its All-Pro tight end to a massive five-year, $75 million contract extension. Ian Rapoport was the first among the mainstream media to officially report that the deal had been agreed upon. He did so this morning, about a minute after Kittle's buddies at the
Pardon My Take podcast
shared the details of the contract.
Shanahan joined KNBR on Thursday morning and humorously boasted about being more of an insider than Rapoport, though.
"I don't get Twitter, but fortunately, I knew before Ian," Shanahan joked on the
Murph & Mac show. "I'm on the inside here. I found out last night, and I was able to keep my mouth shut.
"But yeah, we've been real excited about it. It's something we've been working on for a while. Both sides want to get a deal done, so usually, it happens, but it's always a tough deal to work through all that. And we finally got it done, and it's pretty nice, especially right before we're about to put on pads and get to practicing here in a couple of days."
Shanahan said he already acknowledged the imminent contract extension with Kittle himself.
"I saw him on the field," the coach continued. "I just gave him a little pound, kind of a head nod, and he knew that I knew. But we weren't trying to talk about it. I know George wanted to release it, I think to Big Cat (of
Pardon My Take) this morning. I think that came out through him. So I didn't tell anybody last night.
"I just had a team meeting. I don't get to see George one-on-one in there, but I'll see him out here in walk-though in about 45 minutes."
The new deal keeps Kittle with the team through the 2025 season. He has one year remaining on his four-year rookie contract, and the extension will kick in after that.
Shanahan acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic and the strangeness of this offseason complicated the negotiations, but the two sides were able to finally come to an agreement.
"But when you have a guy like George, who is different, and is special, it's not about just being the best tight end in the NFL, it's who he is after that," Shanahan added. "It makes you want to get this stuff done when you might not actually have to, right now, and especially for a guy like that. He's earned it. He does everything the right way.
"It starts with how talented and good you play on Sunday, which, as I just said, he does that, to me, better than any tight end in the league. But then after that, the way the guy takes care of himself, he works year-round to put his body in a position to stay healthy with the way he plays.
"It makes you believe in the guy. It makes you believe in not what he's done, but what he's going to do. When you have a guy like that, I think it makes it a lot easier for the owner to commit to him like that. We were just pumped to get it done because it's something we all were dying to get something like that done with a player like George, and thankfully we did."
The 49ers made Kittle a fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa in 2017.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
The San Francisco 49ers kicked off their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, which means defensive end Nick Bosa finally reported to the team. The NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been training in Florida and didn't participate in organized team activities (OTAs). He didn't practice on Tuesday either, but he was in attendance.
Of course, none of that is out of the ordinary for the talented pass rusher.
Wednesday will be the final minicamp practice. The team will likely gather for a family day on Thursday before breaking for the summer.
Bosa is entering his fifth NFL season and will undoubtedly soon become the NFL's highest-paid defensive player. The two sides are working towards a contract extension, and the defensive end is confident that something
Over the offseason, there has been significant talk surrounding the San Francisco 49ers and their quarterbacks, especially after the team signed Sam Darnold in free agency, providing them three capable options with starting experience in the former Carolina Panther, Brock Purdy, and Trey Lance.
Purdy is evidently the leader in the clubhouse, as stated by general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan several times this offseason, but many have pointed out his flaws, such as the inability to make throws downfield, as a reason why one of the other quarterbacks could win over the starting job with a strong performance in organized team activities(OTAs) and training camp.
What do the 49ers believe about Purdy's downfield ability?
General manager
The 49ers began their annual mandatory minicamp Tuesday, which as always will mark the end of the third and final phase of the team's offseason workout schedule. The team will break for the summer following Wednesday's session, so Tuesday was an opportunity for reporters to catch up with a number of 49ers players as well as head coach Kyle Shanahan to get some final updates before the team departs.
Among those who spoke with the media Tuesday were wide receiver Deebo Samuel, defensive end Nick Bosa, and tight end George Kittle. 49ers Webzone posted updates earlier on some of the most newsworthy moments from those media sessions, but that was far from the only thing discussed Tuesday. Here's a recap of what the players and Shanahan said, including some praise for Trey Lance
George Kittle was inactive for the first two games of last season due to a groin injury. The San Francisco 49ers tight end averaged under 30 receiving yards in the two games following his return.
The production started to increase from there. The All-Pro tight end felt healthy toward the end of the season, amid a 12-game win streak (including the playoffs). That has carried into this offseason, which is significant for the player who often exits a season feeling the wear and tear on his body.
"It just allowed me to work the way that I wanted to work earlier in the offseason," Kittle told reporters on Tuesday. "Not to take so much time off to rehab and recover, do a bunch of treatments and stuff like that. I was actually just able to get a good foundation in,
