Glazer on Kittle’s deal: He’s going to break the bank, and rightfully so

The Athletic’s Jay Glazer answered a question in his most recent mailbag regarding the contract situation for San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle:

Given his abilities as a receiver and a blocker, what’s a fair price for George Kittle? There aren’t too many tight ends in the league who lead their teams in receiving. They are often asked to block the edge rusher on rounding plays. —Dylan T.

He’s going to break the bank, and rightfully so. He’s someone you don’t have to worry about because he has a work ethic. He’s not just trying to be famous, he’s trying to be great. That’s a big thing. Too many of these cats try to be famous instead of being great, not realizing that if you’re great, you will be famous. George Kittle could have dominated in any generation or era. That’s quite a rare find.

My question, what does break the bank mean? Will the 49ers be forced to go deeper into their pockets and pay Kittle more than $15 million a season?

I agree that Kittle dominates in any era. 49ers fans cherish him, but it still seems like Kittle’s “fame” is flying under the radar. If you follow the most prominent reporters on Twitter such as Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, they’ll bend over backward to celebrate Tom Brady or, lately, Rob Gronkowski. To me, those are two of the most uninteresting personalities to highlight. You could find four or five players on the Niners before those two, but that’s the media at its finest.

Back to Kittle and his contract: When will a deal get done? Any day now? The #PayGeorgeKittle was never going to do the damage that fans intended and has slowed drastically as of late. The longer this goes on without a deal, the more nervous fans will get. At what point will you begin to truly worry if Kittle hasn’t reached an extension with San Francisco? If the Niners go into Week 1 and Kittle is still making $2 million this year, that’s when I’d start asking questions.