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Just days after Trey McBride became the highest-paid tight end in the NFL with a new contract extension, the immediate fallout is already impacting George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers. The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini reported on a potential holdout from Kittle, which the tight end rejected, but she has since doubled down on the claim.
Following McBride's new deal, Kittle did not report to OTAs in a supposed contract dispute, Russini reported. Kittle responded to her tweet by claiming her sources were wrong, but Russini double-checked her information and assured fans that her report was accurate on the ‘Scoop City' podcast with former quarterback Chase Daniel.
“That was one of those situations where I immediately had to go dig on it, like, ‘Wait, did someone give me bad info?'” Russini said. “There was just so many people sharing about this that I knew it wasn't wrong. It really comes down to semantics… In my opinion, it's really about are they [the 49ers and Kittle] going to be able to come to an agreement. Because right now, there's no deal. This isn't done at this point. I'm sure George is mad that it's out there, but the truth of the matter is he wants to be paid.”
I did some more digging on the George Kittle negotiations.
From what I was told, this boils down to a matter of semantics — and whether or not Kittle sticks to his original ask.
More: pic.twitter.com/DQTLxmxcsm
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) April 23, 2025
Russini repeated that Kittle is seeking a new deal that would pay him $20 million per year. The 31-year-old is already set to make that amount in 2025 but is entering the final year of his current contract, which he signed in 2020.
George Kittle drama adds to 49ers' ongoing contract disputes
With Kittle now chasing a second lucrative payday, the 49ers have another name to add to their growing list. San Francisco continues to engage in back-and-forth discussions with quarterback Brock Purdy. They are only one year removed from the dreaded Brandon Aiyuk fiasco that lasted nearly the entire 2024 offseason.
As they continue to develop their stars in-house, the 49ers seemingly deal with contract negotiations and disputes every summer. Without much cap space to work with, San Francisco entered the 2025 offseason intending to focus on Purdy, but now has to work on Kittle's situation.
