Will 49ers extend George Kittle after a quietly good 2024?

As the San Francisco 49ers went their separate ways for the bye week in late October, quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle, along with their significant others, boarded a flight to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a quick getaway.

Purdy and Kittle didn't plan to spend the week together, save for a round of golf, but, unbeknownst to each other, they also brought one must-have item.

"He was like, 'Hey, I brought a football,'" Purdy said. "And I was like, 'So did I.' Just in case."

Purdy and Kittle didn't hold any impromptu throwing sessions on that trip, but their connection took another significant step forward on the field in 2024, and it's one they'd like to keep going into 2025 and beyond.

While Purdy's extension negotiations figure to garner most of the attention this offseason, Kittle's contract status also bears watching -- with 2025 being the last year on his current deal. Surrounded by an offensive supporting cast missing many of its key contributors for most of 2024, Kittle not only put together one of his best seasons, but reinforced why he remains an integral part of the franchise.

Despite missing a pair of games because of hamstring injuries, Kittle posted 1,106 receiving yards (second most in his career), 78 receptions (third most) and 8 touchdown catches (second most) while averaging 14.2 yards per reception (third most).

That production earned Kittle a second-team All-Pro spot, a sixth Pro Bowl nod and his second Len Eshmont Award as the team's most valuable player.

"He's had a hell of a year," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "He's been able to stay healthy, too. He's missed two games, I believe, which were obviously tough without him. But I've just been proud of how he's taken care of himself, the way he comes to work every single day. I love being around George and love having him on our team."

By the time it was over, teammates openly wondered whether Kittle, even at 31 years old and coming off an offseason in which he had to regain 30 pounds after shoulder surgery, was as good as he has ever been.

"Better with time," linebacker Fred Warner said. "Like fine wine."

As the 49ers sort through their list of 23 impending free agents and consider trade options for receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., Kittle has cemented himself as a priority to keep around for the foreseeable future.

The 49ers and Kittle have restructured the five-year $75 million extension he signed in 2020 multiple times in recent years in the name of cap savings, but he is scheduled to count as $22.085 million against the 2025 cap. That figure would exceed his previous high by a little less than $10 million.

The easiest path to such cap relief, of course, would come in the form of a contract extension. When Kittle signed his previous deal, he became the highest-paid tight end in NFL history with an average annual value of $15 million and set a record with $40 million in guarantees.

Since then, the tight end market hasn't moved much with Travis Kelce ($17.125 million) and T.J. Hockenson ($16.5 million) surpassing Kittle in average value and Hockenson ($42.5 million) garnering more guaranteed money.

After the season, Kittle told ESPN that he wants to be a Niner for his entire career and that "whatever the front office wants to do, I'm all ears." And some early discussions to that end have already begun, Kittle told the "Up and Adams Show" during Super Bowl week.

Along with that, Kittle doesn't plan to call it a career any time soon.

"It's always been until the wheels fall off," Kittle said. "Or until my wife tells me to stop playing, which I'll trust her on that one."

As it stands, there isn't any indication that either of those things is imminent. In fact, if Kittle is a 49er for at least the next few years, he'd have the opportunity to solidify his place as an all-time franchise great and position himself for a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

During the 2024 season, Kittle set a franchise record for receiving yards by a tight end (7,380), which places him behind Kelce for the second-most receiving yards by a tight end through his first eight NFL seasons. Kittle became the fifth tight end in history to have four 1,000-plus yard receiving seasons, joining Kelce (seven), Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten (four each) in that exclusive club.

Before every season, Kittle sets a handful of goals for himself. Those include 1,000 receiving yards, 10 touchdowns and 75 catches. Three more seasons of those numbers would leave Kittle in the top six all time among tight ends in each of those categories. Paired with his prowess as a blocker, it would all but ensure a gold jacket, though that's not something Kittle is worried about at this point.

"I'll look back on that whenever I'm done playing," Kittle said. "I'm just very excited that I've gotten to spend eight years with the San Francisco 49ers. Hopefully [I'll] continue to play here because it's a storied franchise."

While the 49ers have plenty of other, perhaps more urgent, business to take care of before Kittle, it would be beneficial for all parties to figure something out sooner than later. Re-signing Kittle would offer some cap savings that could be used to bolster the roster elsewhere or, perhaps, be used to keep another important teammate.