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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.
We are less than one week away from the NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers have their first day-one draft pick since 2021. That was the year they selected QB Trey Lance number three overall. The trade-up to get Lance cost the 49ers their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. And now that they are back in the first round, at pick 31, fans are anxious to see what the team does with the pick. And with former assistant GM, Adam Peters, now in Washington, it will be interesting to see how well the 49ers draft without Peters in the room.
We looked back at the seven drafts GM John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan have led to see what information we could pull from those drafts. There were plenty of hits, plenty of misses, and a few surprises along the way. The draft picks are
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for a franchise-record 4,280 yards last season, leading the team to the Super Bowl and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He held onto the football 39 times on the ground, rushing for 144 yards and scoring twice. This marked a significant improvement over his rookie 2022 campaign when he had 22 carries for 13 yards and a score.
Purdy further displayed his athleticism during the 49ers' playoff game against the Detroit Lions last season, helping engineer a comeback victory while rushing for 48 yards on five carries.
On Tuesday morning, Purdy joined the "Pat McAfee Show," acknowledging that he believes he can contribute more rushing yards if called upon. However, that decision rests with head coach Kyle Shanahan,
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is in high spirits, and it's no wonder why. He's well aware that his bank account is about to get a significant boost, one way or another.
Aiyuk posted a video to Instagram, showing himself dancing and seemingly celebrating the good fortune of one of his NFL peers. The Detroit Lions recently inked their star wideout, Amon-Ra St. Brown, to a lucrative four-year, $120 million contract extension. Aiyuk eagerly awaits his own deal from the 49ers and recognizes that the news out of Detroit will only strengthen his agent, Ryan Williams' hand at the negotiating table.
Brandon
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
