Inman: Kittle’s place in 49ers’ lore is safe however contract problem looms

SANTA CLARA – George Kittle will cost Monday night time onto the one residence discipline he’s often known as one of many NFL’s marquee gamers, the 49ers’ crowd will go wild, and the stage will probably be set, but once more.

The present goes on, even when the 49ers (6-9) are ending their NFC Championship reign and maybe passing the torch to Levi’s Stadium’s remaining guests this season, the Detroit Lions (13-2).

Kittle is 33 yards shy of his fourth 1,000-yard season, in an eight-year profession that can garner him extra All-Professional and Professional Bowl honors.

“I’m just very excited I got to spend eight years with the San Francisco 49ers, hopefully will continue to play here, because it’s a storied franchise,” Kittle mentioned Friday when requested about his place amongst NFL all-time time ends.

This cannot be his farewell recreation, proper?

Look, he isn’t saying that, and he mentioned to attend till the offseason to publicly ask him about his contact, which runs by means of 2025 at a $14.4 million wage — a couple of million shy of Travis Kelce’s market-leading value amongst tight ends.

After Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams leveraged their elite play into extensions previous to this season, it’s apparent Kittle can and will do the identical, for a franchise indebted to his manufacturing, management and standard-setting methods.

“Dude, he’s been great to me regardless of the circumstances of winning or losing,” Brock Purdy mentioned. “He sees something in me that’s pretty good. And he’s just been nothing but great encouragement to me. He’s real to me, about what I can do and where I can get better. He’s real and that’s why I love him.”

For all of the anticipation of Purdy’s blockbuster extension that may come as quickly because the season ends, Kittle can strong-arm the 49ers’ brass right into a deal greater than another participant, all due respect to pending free brokers Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Aaron Banks, and Talanoa Hufanga.

“More than anything, he’s a guy that’s going to do anything for you when you step on the field. Off the field he’s got your back,” Purdy added. “And for our team, man, we’ve been in some tough situations this year and that dude has been one of the dudes that comes to work every single day.”

Kittle’s work this recreation doubtless will probably be to assist block amid a patchwork offensive line with three new starters. That function is just not taken evenly by Kittle, neither is his extra renown efforts as one of many franchise’s all-time greatest receivers.

“Hopefully I can eventually catch T.O.,” mentioned Kittle, whose 528 receptions and seven,241 yards rank third in 49ers’ receiving historical past behind solely Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens. “I don’t think I’ll ever catch Jerry Rice on anything but that’s totally fine, I’m OK with that. I don’t think I want to play that long.”

Kittle trails Owens by 64 catches and 1,331 yards for the No. 2 spots behind Rice (1,281 catches, 19,247 yards).

He’s the one tight finish in 49ers historical past to succeed in the 1,000-yard mark, doing so in 2018, ’19, ’23, and, in 33 extra yards, this season. The one different tight ends in NFL historical past with 4 1,000-yard seasons: Kelce (seven), Tony Gonzalez (4), Rob Gronkowski (4), and, Jason Witten (4).

“I’ll look back on that whenever I’m done playing,” mentioned Kittle, noting his longevity is “until the wheels fall off or until my wife tells me to stop playing.”

This season, he leads the 49ers with 68 catches, 967 yards and eight touchdowns. His perennial purpose: 75 catches, 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns.

“I’d rather be winning football games but to have that (1,000-yard milestone) as a cherry on top is awesome,” Kittle mentioned. “The more seasons you can stack up like that, the more fun things you can do down the road.”

It’s a street that results in Canton, Ohio and the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame.

Disclaimer: Kittle wrote a foreword for Cam Inman’s not too long ago printed ebook “The Franchise: San Francisco 49ers”.