George Kittle’s deal has a very important hidden detail
George Kittle obviously got a lot of money in his latest contract with the 49ers. Upon further examination, he got one more important concession.
The fact that the 49ers made George Kittle the highest-paid tight end in football didn’t surprise anyone around the NFL. There can be no debate about his talent level or importance to the 49ers offense.
There is, however, one surprising element to the playmaker’s new deal.
As Matt Verderame reported in his most-recent Stacking the Box column, Kittle and his representatives were able to win a key battle against the 49ers’ front office that had nothing to do with money. San Francisco typically inserts a vesting date of April 7 in all of their big deals. That deadline is a month later than most teams in the league.
That’s important because it gives San Francisco the opportunity to part with quality players at a date where most teams around the league have already spent the majority of their cap space. That gives the 49ers a great deal of leverage when it comes to renegotiating contracts with their biggest stars.
Smartly, Kittle’s agent, Jack Bechta, was keen to make sure the organization couldn’t wield that sort of power against his client. He and his agency were able to make sure that San Francisco has to make any decisions about parting with their star client a full year in advance of the dates in their other contracts.
Admittedly, it’s unlikely the 49ers will ever get into a position where they want to part with Kittle before his new deal is up. Even if he suffers a serious injury, his upside as a receiver makes him a player the organization would likely gamble on to make a full recovery.
It’s still excellent risk management by the player and his representatives. They correctly realized that they held all of the cards in their negotiations with the 49ers. Kittle was massively underpaid and a critical component of the team’s offensive success. To put it bluntly, San Francisco was in no position to turn down any of Kittle’s demands.
Next. Travis Kelce's deal comes up just short of George Kittle's. dark
Some agents might have let a relatively small contract detail like this slip. Bechta maximized the deal for his client in terms of both dollars and dates. That’s all any player can ask from his representation.