News & Info/Headlines

Kittle The NFL's Highest-Paid TE With 5-Year, $75 Million Extension
George Kittle has led the 49ers in receiving yards the past two seasons. His 1,377 yards in 2018 set an NFL single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end. 2020 marks the final season of his four-year rookie contract, and his next deal was expected to make him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.

It did.

Kittle and San Francisco are in agreement on a five-year, $75 million extension, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Michael Silver reported.

The language of the deal is still being worked on but Kittle will receive an $18 million signing bonus while more than half of the total amount is guaranteed, Rapoport added.

"A large sum, especially in a pandemic," Rapoport wrote. "Mostly, he blows the doors off the TE market and they keep their own."

The new contract marks a big jump in terms of average annual salary over the deal that Austin Hooper signed with the Browns this offseason and would leave Kittle just outside the top 10 wide receivers in that category.

Of course, fantasy owners can expect to pay up just like the Niners.

Per NFL.com, Kittle missed two games in 2019, but he still tied Travis Kelce for the most fantasy points scored per game (15.9). He finished second in double-digit performances (11) and only Kelce had more games with 20-plus point games. NextGen Stats show that Kittle led the NFL in receiving yards per route run in 2019 with 3.3 (among those who ran a minimum of 100 routes). According to FantasyPros, Kittle, who failed to produce top-20 numbers in just one game, compiled a 79.4 percent catch-rate in 2019, the third highest mark of all-time among tight ends who've seen at least 50 targets.

But CBSSports.com offers this to seal the deal: "The 15.2 PPR Fantasy points per game [Kittle] averaged was on par with Allen Robinson's 15.5, and Robinson finished as a top-10 receiver."

So, no. Given the positional scarcity at TE, Round 2 is not too early.