George Kittle becomes richest tight end in NFL history

George Kittle (Alexander Jonesi, Wikimedia Commons)

George Kittle of Madison, Wisconsin became the highest-paid tight end in National Football League history on Thursday. According to the Associated Press, Kittle signed a five-year contract worth $75 million. The contract includes an $18 million signing bonus.

Kittle is now set to make $15 million per season. He passes Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hunter Henry of Little Rock, Arkansas, who is to make $10.6 million in 2020, as he has the franchise tag.

There is no doubt that Kittle is the best tight end in the National Football League, and is as good as Rob Gronkowski was a few years ago with the New England Patriots. In 2019, Kittle made 85 catches for 1053 yards and five touchdowns. He also had five rushing carries for 22 yards and another major score.

Kittle’s best regular season game in 2019 came on December 15, 2019 in a surprising 29-22 49ers loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Kittle had 13 catches for 134 yards in the contest. Then in the 2020 NFL Playoffs, Kittle had eight catches for 71 yards as San Francisco reached the Super Bowl, but lost 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

On December 9, 2018, Kittle had a game for the ages. He had seven catches for 210 yards and a touchdown in a 20-14 49ers win over the Denver Broncos. Kittle was only four yards shy of the record for most yards in a game by a tight end in NFL history. Shannon Sharpe holds that record as he had 214 yards in a 37-34 Broncos win over the Kansas City Chiefs on October 20, 2002.

Speaking of the Chiefs, Kansas City signed their star tight end Travis Kelce to a long term contract on Thursday too. Kelce signed a four-year contract worth $57 million.

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