Moments after putting the finishing touches on his eighth NFL season, tight end George Kittle made it clear that he wants to finish his career where it started: with the San Francisco 49ers.
Kittle took a significant step toward reaching that goal as he signed a four-year contract extension that will keep him with the only NFL team he has ever known through the 2029 season, the Niners announced Tuesday. Kittle told the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast earlier that the deal was worth $76.4 million.
The extension includes $40 million in guaranteed money, Kittle said, and will almost certainly lower Kittle's previously scheduled 2025 salary cap number of $22,085,000. That cap hit would exceed his previous highest cap hit by a little less than $10 million.
"In 2017, our first year with the 49ers, we selected a skinny tight end from Iowa whom we were really excited about," GM John Lynch said in a statement. "We had high hopes, but no one knew that he would become the player that he is today.
"He has a great sense of pride in his role and has put in the work to be one of the best tight ends in the NFL."
Kittle, 31, had vowed to keep playing "until the wheels fall off," in position to play his entire career with the team that selected him with a fifth-round pick..
"My goal is to wear the red and gold my entire career," Kittle told ESPN on Jan. 5.
Even if the extension doesn't guarantee that will happen, it undoubtedly gives Kittle a strong chance to reach a more short-term goal: joining the 49ers' 10-year club. That club honors players who have played at least 10 consecutive seasons in San Francisco and includes 51 players since the team's inception in 1946. The club hasn't added anyone since tackle Joe Staley in 2017.
Kittle will be entering his ninth season in 2025, meaning he'd need to just play one of the additional years added to his deal to be the next member. It's something Kittle called "a huge goal of mine."
If Kittle continues at anything near his current trajectory, he should have no issue pushing to 10 years in San Francisco and beyond, as he's coming off one of his best seasons.
In 2024, Kittle ranked third among tight ends in receiving yards (1,106), tied for second in touchdowns (eight) and was first in yards per reception (14.2) while continuing to be a key blocker in San Francisco's rushing attack. That production landed him his sixth Pro Bowl selection and another All-Pro honor (second team, his fifth nod on the first or second All-Pro teams).
Kittle also became one of five tight ends in league history to have four or more 1,000-yard receiving seasons, alongside Travis Kelce (seven), Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten (four each). He also surpassed Gronkowski for the second-most receiving yards by a tight end in his first eight seasons in the NFL (7,380), trailing only Kelce.
"[He's] better with time," linebacker Fred Warner said. "Like fine wine. He's doing a heck of a job. He's always been great, but the fact that he's making the plays that he's making right now at this point in his career has been phenomenal."