{"id":781729,"date":"2026-07-24T11:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/781729\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:50:08","slug":"george-kittle-links-lingering-brandon-aiyuk-issues-to-his-2024-contract-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/781729\/","title":{"rendered":"George Kittle links lingering Brandon Aiyuk issues to his 2024 contract negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

When 49ers tight end George Kittle last addressed receiver Brandon Aiyuk, during a visit with Pardon My Take, he told Commanders fan PFT Commenter, \u201cHave fun with that<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Thursday visit with Chris Simms<\/a>, Kittle opted not to get into the details about the things that have happened between Aiyuk and the 49ers. However, Kittle strongly hinted that the problems trace to the protracted and difficult contract negotiations between Aiyuk and the 49ers from 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I know basically everything that\u2019s happened and what\u2019s gone on, and I can\u2019t share all of that, because it\u2019s not my business to share or tell,\u201d Kittle said. \u201cBut . . . I feel like the Niners have done a very good job throughout the entire process and have tried. [Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] has tried. [G.M.] John [Lynch] has tried. Teammates have tried. And this is where we are. And so I think the organization itself has done a really good job. And like I said, I know plenty of things. . . . I don\u2019t want to point a finger at anybody, but I\u2019ve been here for 10 years, and I\u2019ve been treated with nothing but respect and love my entire career. I feel like I\u2019ve done it the right way as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the right approach. Kittle and Aiyuk have been teammates for six years. Technically, they still are \u2014 even if Aiyuk undoubtedly will never play for the 49ers again (barring a dramatic and unexpected change of heart).<\/p>\n

Kittle pivoted during his response to the contract issue that bogged down the relationship between Aiyuk and the 49ers. And Kittle\u2019s comments make clear his belief that, for Aiyuk, the situation left a wound that never healed.<\/p>\n

\u201cContract negotiations are also \u2014 those are always hard for everybody,\u201d Kittle said. \u201cAnd you just try your best to not be sensitive about it. But I will say, you know, Richard Sherman gave me advice back in the day when I was going through my first contract negotiation. It was, \u2018Contracts are like braces. They hurt and they suck the entire time, and then once you get your braces off and you get paid, you don\u2019t even remember having them. And it\u2019s a great time.\u2019 Like, that\u2019s kind of the mindset you have to have, and, you know, if you get offended by something, you hold onto it, that\u2019s kind of on you, because everybody goes through contract negotiations, and they\u2019re all difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of how much sense that makes, something happened that pushed Aiyuk past the point of no return. For him, it was the first real contract negotiation of his pro career. The 49ers do them all the time and, frankly, this creates an obligation to not treat all of them the same. For someone like Kittle, the discomfort of the braces was forgotten immediately. For someone like Aiyuk, the pain and discomfort can\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

Successful coaches have a different approach to coaching different players. Front offices should do the same. Hardball can\u2019t be the only game played; for some players, the echoes of chin music never fade away.<\/p>\n

Whether or not the 49ers had reason to believe Aiyuk would hold a grudge over contentious contract talks is a different issue. As the situation was unfolding two summers ago, however, there was plenty of evidence to support the conclusion that the time had come to move on. And the 49ers had a chance to do it, with a trade to the Steelers teed up before Aiyuk suddenly decided to accept the team\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n

Surely, the 49ers wish they\u2019d gone through with the trade. Even more surely, they\u2019ve learned from the experience a better way to resolve the next negotiations that turn extra ugly. <\/p>\n

Or maybe they\u2019ve learned how to keep the negotiations from getting extra ugly. Especially from the players who won\u2019t forget the ugliness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When 49ers tight end George Kittle last addressed receiver Brandon Aiyuk, during a visit with Pardon My Take,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-781729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}