George Kittle is now signed through 2029 after he agreed to a four-year extension with the 49ers this week. However, the 49ers reportedly had a chance to move on from their All-Pro tight end and recoup a significant draft pick in a trade.

On her ‘Scoop City’ podcast, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that, before the 2025 NFL Draft, the 49ers had discussions around a Kittle trade, which obviously ultimately did not come to fruition.

Russini said:

“I know there was a team that had a conversation with the 49ers the night before the draft about a possible trade for Kittle, a second-rounder they were looking to get in return. They turned it down, the 49ers, and decided to keep him and really move this situation forward by getting a deal done, but there was a little interest there, some poking around.”

On the surface, getting a second-round pick in return for a 31-year-old tight end would appear to be an excellent deal for the 49ers.

But that simplistic assessment ignores Kittle’s importance to the 49ers. Coming off a second successive 1,000-yard season in which he was once again the best blocking tight end in the game, Kittle — alongside Christian McCaffrey — is poised to once more be the focal point of an offense that might not have Brandon Aiyuk to start the season as he continues his recovery from the devastating knee injury he suffered last season.

Having shown no signs of slowing down, this offseason would not have been the right time for the 49ers to move on from Kittle, and doing so would have sent the wrong message to the locker room as San Francisco attempts to work through a transitional period and return to contention in a hurry.

Kittle wanted to spend his entire career with the 49ers and, without an obvious successor at the position on the roster, it made sense for San Francisco to allow him to do just that.