All 49ers

Report: George Kittle did not Show Up to Phase 1 of 49ers OTAs

This is a bad sign.
Grant Cohn|
Mar 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Francisco 49's tight end George Kittle watches a game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Mar 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Francisco 49's tight end George Kittle watches a game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

This is a bad sign.

George Kittle has decided not to show up to Phase 1 of 49ers OTAs according to The Athletic's Mike Silver. Of course, OTAs are voluntary and that means Kittle doesn't have to be there. But he's a captain and he's staying away for financial reasons.

Kittle has one year left on his contract and wants a new deal. He said so when the 49ers' season ended. That was more than four months ago and he and the 49ers remain far apart according to reports. Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals recently extended Trey McBride and made him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL. They showed more urgency than the 49ers.

So Kittle has a grievance. He's coming off the best season of his career and he feels underpaid. And that's understandable.

It's just that Brock Purdy and Fred Warner also are underpaid veterans who want new deals, too. And they reportedly showed up to OTAs. They didn't put their financial grievances ahead of the team. They acted like true captains and team leaders.

Kittle is allowed to put himself above the team -- he's not the first player to do so. But the 49ers also are allowed to not appreciate the move. They've taken care of Kittle for years. Now he's threatening to derail the offseason before it begins.

If Kittle continues to stay away from the team, the 49ers should trade him. They need to focus on the future and sign players who truly want to be a part of it.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News