George Kittle Officially Signs Extension with 49ers

George Kittle signed his contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, as All49ers first reported he would.

George Kittle signed his contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, as All49ers first reported he would.

The contract is a five-year deal worth $15 million per season, according to OverTheCap.com. The deal also contains $40 million in total guarantees and an $18 million signing bonus.

According to a well-placed source, the deal originally was going to be a six-year contract. But Kittle’s agent, Jack Bechta, who does not represent many high-paid athletes and lacks experience negotiating big-money contracts, was concerned about the incentives and pushed for a five-year deal at the last minute. Had he accepted a six-year deal, Kittle could have earned $15.8 million per season. But a five-year deal will allow him to hit the free-agent market one-year sooner, so I can see why he’d take the shorter deal, even though it’s worth less.

Kittle, 26, now is the highest-paid tight end of all time. Plus he’s a team captain, an All Pro, a two-time Pro Bowler and his peers recently voted him the seventh-best player in the entire NFL regardless of position, according to the NFL Network. He probably should have gotten much more money, but the NFL historically has not paid tight ends big money for some strange reason. Maybe Kittle will break that tradition.

In three career seasons, he has gained 2,977 total yards -- a gargantuan amount for a tight end. But he has scored only 12 touchdowns -- a surprisingly small number for such a dominant player.

Kittle will address the media today after the 49ers’ first practice of the year. Stay tuned.