Soon following the 2025 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers have now announced a contract extension with tight end George Kittle, making him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history.
49ers Tight End George Kittle’s Historic Deal
According to “Bussin’ With The Boys,” a podcast hosted by former NFL players Taylor Lewan and Will Compton, Kittle’s deal is for four years and $76.4 million, with an average annual salary of $19.1 million. Of that, $40 million is guaranteed, including $35 million at signing and $5 million in 2027.
In 2025, Kittle will earn a base salary of $14.4 million, a workout bonus of $100,000, and he has a cap hit of $22,026,176, according to Spotrac.
This deal comes 26 days after the Arizona Cardinals announced their four-year, $76 million extension with Trey McBride. That deal included a $16.5 million signing bonus and $43 million guaranteed.
Additionally, this comes after the San Francisco TE quote-tweeted a report from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, which stated that Kittle’s absence from the team’s first voluntary offseason workout was “contract related” and that the two sides were “far apart.”
Kittle’s quote-tweet response stated, “Your source is incorrect.”
Looking Back at Kittle’s 49ers Career
Over his career, Kittle, 31, has earned $62,505,903 before the 2025 season, per Spotrac. He was drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round (No. 146 overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Iowa.
Kittle played college football for the University of Iowa from 2012 to 2016. He redshirted his 2012 season, but over that time, he caught just 48 passes for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns. Yet, as a rookie in the NFL, he nearly matched his collegiate receptions total with 43 and finished with a respectable 515 yards receiving and two scores.
However, over the next two seasons, he truly showed the 49ers that their fifth-round draft selection was well worth it.
In 2018, he caught 88 passes for 1,377 yards and five touchdowns. He followed that up with 85 catches for 1,053 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games in 2019.
Through eight seasons, he’s had 1,000+ receiving yards in four of them, despite having just one double-digit touchdown season (2022, 11). Since entering the NFL, Kittle is a two-time first-team All-Pro, a three-time second-team All-Pro, and has been to six Pro Bowls.
He’s dealt with various injuries, though, throughout his career. Since entering the NFL, he’s missed games due to ankle sprains, a separated shoulder, a knee sprain, a foot fracture, calf injuries, groin strains, and hamstring injuries. But nevertheless, over his eight-year career, he’s played in 113 of 132 games (85.6%).
Despite this laundry list of injuries, Kittle continues to perform whenever he’s on the field.
He has 21 100+ yard games throughout his career. In 12 playoff games, he’s caught 33 passes for 455 yards and two touchdowns. Entering 2025, he’s caught 538 passes on 733 targets for 7,380 yards, and 45 touchdowns.