There’s a moment in every NFL offseason when reality hits harder than a blindside block. It’s not always a blockbuster trade or a shock draft pick. Sometimes, it’s silence. And that silence? It says everything. At a recent charity event, George Kittle stood with his signature grin, cracking jokes and signing autographs. But behind the easy energy, some fans noticed the elephant in the room—or rather, the elephant not in the room: a new contract.
This is a guy who’s left blood, sweat, and hair ties on the Levi’s Stadium turf. A leader in the locker room, a nightmare for linebackers, and arguably the most complete tight end in the NFL. But in a league where youth gets paid and loyalty rarely gets rewarded, the waiting game can turn cold. Especially when the front office is busy cutting checks elsewhere. For Kittle, the question isn’t just if he’ll get extended. It’s whether the franchise he’s helped define is ready to move forward without him.
Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers are cooking some strategic dishes for the upcoming season. Since they played their last game of the previous season, they have let 17 players hit free agency. This update also describes what’s going on in San Francisco right now. Though they have re-signed Kyle Juszczyk, Kittle is still waiting for his fair share. It is said that after the offseason started, the Superstar tight end asked the organization for a contract extension. But still there is no response.
Currently, the Kittle is entering the final year of his massive $75,000,000 contract. And reportedly, if the 49ers give Kittle a contract extension, he would become the highest-paid TE in the league. But the 49ers are showing no signs of giving the extension so far. And that is also after shelling out $42 million in the offseason for signing 10 free agents. The 49ers ousted 17 players, including Deebo Samuels, but still, not giving Kittle an extension looks crazy.
Does George Kittle Still Want to Sign an Extension with the #49ers? https://t.co/sCeAGtyDTL
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) April 14, 2025
The 49ers might not be sure about the age of the 31-year-old tight end. Also, the 49ers are still figuring out Brock Purdy‘s looming contract extension. They are expected to give him a $45 to 50 million per AAV contract. So, amid this juicy extension to Purdy, which is still in the pipeline, Kyle Shanahan’s franchise is not responding to Kittle’s request with a promise they may not be able to wrangle.
SI‘s Grant Cohn has a different angle on the story. The reporter said, “It’s possible the 49ers don’t want to pay an aging player that much money, particularly when they could draft his replacement this year in Tyler Warren.” Warren is a 22-year-old Penn State Nittany Lions tight end. So, the 49ers could do one thing in the future. They can draft this young TE and let the star TE Kittle hit free agency. But looking at his 2024 stats, where he landed 8 touchdowns after receiving 78 passes for 1100+ yards despite having some injury concerns, it doesn’t look plausible.
For the upcoming season, the 49ers owed Kittle a $14,400,000 base salary and a workout bonus of $100,000. He carries a cap hit of $22,026,176 and a dead cap of more than $20,700,000. Amid George Kittle’s extension drama, the 49ers are rumored to be potentially adding Brandon Aiyuk to the exit list of 17 players.
George Kittle’s 49ers to let go of Brandon Aiyuk?
“At some point, you have to reset a little bit or at least recalibrate. You can’t just keep pressing the pedal, and I think there’s some good that could come out [of it].” The 49ers General Manager John Lynch said this in the current offseason. This clearly defines what the Niners are planning. They already sent shock waves when they fired the OC and DC in January 2025 after ending the season 6-11. Then, they moved on from 17 players (at least briefly in the case of Juszczyk).
Now rumors suggest that the franchise’s star wideout would also join those 17 players. This rumor came after the injured WR recently got hitched with his fiancée on April 12. The rumors are swirling since Brock Purdy did not attend Aiyuk’s wedding. Also, the injury itself is another reason. Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL in the second quarter of Week 7’s game vs. the Chiefs on October 20, 2024. Since then, he has not returned to play. And that’s why the rumors are swirling that the 49ers may move on from Aiyuk.
But that would be crazy. Not only does the reasoning seem a bit amateurish, the wide receiver also carries a massive dead cap hit of $65 million. The 27-year-old, who received only 25 passes in 2024, has signed a four-year $120,000,000 deal. So, it looks like those rumors are likely to remain just those, soon to be filed away in the obsolete file. In fact, the 49ers’ HC has said that the WR would join the team in this season’s first game.
So, Niner gang, what do you think about the squad overhaul that’s underway? Should George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk be a part of it too? Have your say in the comments below!
The post 49ers Ignore George Kittle Despite Shelling $42M in Offseason as Brandon Aiyuk Rumored to Join 17 Ousted Players appeared first on EssentiallySports.