What is Holding up the 49ers George Kittle Contract Extension?

I’m going full detective mode.

It’s been exactly eight days since head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about George Kittle's contract situation, and Shanahan said "I feel really good about this going forward-- I feel very optimistic about it. Hopefully, something will happen sooner than later. I'm not too concerned about it though."

Since training camp has started, five offensive players on the 49ers have spoken to the media: Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Trent Williams, Mike McGlinchey and Kyle Juszczyk. Yet, the two-time All Pro, two-time Pro Bowler and, most importantly, two-time team captain hasn’t met with the media yet. I’m sure we all know why that is.

Once the 49ers Twitter account acknowledged Kittle being rated the seventh-best player among his peers, this is what his close friend Trent Taylor had to say about it:

The front office hiding from the facts.. https://t.co/uPj4DLrRfi pic.twitter.com/lyAkVGcMDS
— Trent Taylor (@Trent5Taylor) July 30, 2020

First glance, I thought the 49ers must be close on a deal with Kittle because why else would his close friend who has had trouble staying healthy take a clear shot at the 49ers front office? But that is now 12 days old with no extension yet.

What “facts” could Taylor be alluding to?

Maybe NFL insider Mike Silver can clear it up. Yesterday Silver updated the status after speaking with Kittle’s agent. Silver stated, “Progress has been minimal,” and then said, “it’s not just money. There is structure, and how much money a player like George Kittle could get upfront, how much would actually be guaranteed. And at the heart of all this has been somewhat of a philosophical divide between the 49ers, who say, ‘Listen, we want to pay you more than any tight end ever, because you’re the greatest tight end,’ and Kittle’s camp, which is saying, ‘Don’t view me as a tight end. I was just voted the seventh-best player in football at any position.’”

Interesting.

After seeing the tweet from Taylor and the report from Silver, who has had direct contact with Kittle’s agent during this whole process, it's clear to me what the issue is.

The guaranteed money is holding up this deal.

Taylor is talking about the "fact" that Kittle deserves a guaranteed rate for the best seventh-best player in football, not just the tight-end guaranteed rate. Silver echoed that when he said, “It’s not just the money-- don’t view me as a tight end.”

The largest guaranteed money for a tight end right now is Austin Hooper at $23 million. That places Hooper tied for the 151st-highest guaranteed amount. Sure, the 49ers can reset the tight-end market and give Kittle $10 million guaranteed more than Hooper, and that’ll still place Kittle tied for 75th-most guaranteed money.

These are the positions that make $10-million more guaranteed money than Hooper. This is excluding the positions that are expected an inflated guaranteed amount, such as quarterbacks, edge and inside pass-rushers, as well as the offensive line.

9 Wide-Receivers
5 Defensive backs
5 Middle linebackers
3 Rookies
2 Running backs

Arik Armstead has a whopping $40 million guaranteed the contract he signed with the 49ers just this offseason. Kittle will need more than that for a deal to happen before Week 1. That’ll happen once John Lynch and the front office finally offer a deal with a guaranteed amount that says, “You’re more than just a tight end.”

This is a big week for the 49ers and Kittle as the team holds it’s first practice on Saturday. Will a deal get done before then? Kittle and his agent sure hope so.