George Kittle is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, and the 49ers reportedly won't wait long to lock up their star tight end.
The 49ers and Kittle could begin negotiations on a new deal "as soon as after" Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, NFL Media's Mike Garafolo said Sunday on "NFL GameDay," citing "sources informed of the negotiations that are to come."
"The Niners are going to make this a priority and try to get an extension done with Kittle quickly," Garafolo said.
Kittle led the 49ers in receiving for the second straight season in 2019, catching 85 passes for 1,053 yards and matching his career-high with five touchdowns, despite missing two games due to injury. In 2018, Kittle set the NFL's single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end.
Since coming into the league as a fifth-round pick in 2017, the former Iowa Hawkeye ranks third in receptions (216) and second in receiving yards (2,945) among tight ends. Pro Football Focus graded Kittle's 2019 as the best season by a tight end since the analytics site began grading players in 2011, and the best by any player -- regardless of position -- this season.
The 26-year-old has a strong case as the best tight end in the sport, and Garafolo expects Kittle ultimately will be paid as such.
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"The top of the tight-end market is about $10 million a year -- he is going to blow the lid off of that," Garafolo said. "I would think you're looking at $13 million as the floor on this one."
If Kittle's extension carries a $13 million salary-cap number, he'd have the fifth-highest cap hit on the team in 2020 behind quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo ($26.6 million), edge rusher Dee Ford ($16.1 million), defensive lineman DeForest Buckner ($14.36 million) and cornerback Richard Sherman ($13.9875 million), according to Over The Cap. Buckner is eligible for an extension this offseason, too, while defensive lineman Arik Armstead and safety Jimmie Ward are expected to become free agents.
Kittle and Buckner's expected top-of-market extensions might not leave the 49ers enough salary-cap space to retain Armstead and Ward, but a win Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV would make their potential departures easier to live with.
