It’s pretty obvious the San Francisco 49ers are going to need to lock George Kittle up before he even sniffs free agency. Per Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, the 49ers will make Kittle a priority.
Kittle is the heart and soul of that 49ers offense and I don’t think anyone will argue that. He has made the run game deadly and a defender would have a better chance of tackling a semi than Kittle in the open field. Considering he has the record for most receiving yards and is a large part of why the 49ers are in the Super Bowl thanks to his heroics in New Orleans. He’s not going to be cheap, but hopefully the 49ers can work something out to keep him here for a long time.
Kittle will be entering the final year of his contract where he is slated to make $735,000. Believe me, he made exponentially more that that in 2019. He won’t be cheap, but $735,000 is almost a slap in the fact at this point. They could roll that into some guarantees and work out a deal. Who knows.
This comes hot after a report earlier from the two that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are looking for a pair of deals as well. When you factor in Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Jimmie Ward, you know some tough decisions are going to have to be made. Those three names on defense are important but we’ve seen what happens when the 49ers go stretches without Kittle, and it’s not pretty.
Now we know where the priorities lie.