It is clear that George Kittle has established himself as a top NFL talent at the tight end position. In 2019 Kittle caught 85 balls for 1,053 yards and 5 touchdowns. He is ranked as the third best tight end according to Fantasy Pros. But….Kittel is currently having contract negotiation problems with the 49ers. His agent is arguing that he is special and should be paid like a WR and offensive tackle. Kittle is on the last year of his rookie deal so he is about to get paid in a big way.
Austin Hooper is currently the highest paid TE in the NFL after signing with Cleveland in the offseason. He is on a 4 year $43M contract with $23M guaranteed. Kittle is better than Hooper so that is going to be the floor of the negotiation. If the 49ers can’t make it work then he is going to be one of the hottest players on the market. So why the Bengals? Why not?
The Cincinnati Bengals are entering into 2020 with a major question mark at the TE position. CJ Uzomah is the current starter but everyone is hoping that Drew Sample emerges after having a second round pick in 2019 used on him. In his first year he was more of a blocker than a pass catcher and Eifert was relied on to catch balls. This will be a big year for Sample and I feel pretty confident things are going to shake out at the position one way or the other. If they do not and Kittle is available he should be considered.
Not only is Kittle a great pass catcher he also is a fantastic blocker. What could help the Joe’s (Burrow and Mixon) more than a dual-threat option especially when the offensive line is still not built to the standard it needs to be? It is also clear after the 2020 free agency period that the Bengals are willing to spend some cash to make this team better. This is our five year window to surround our QB with talent to make a Super Bowl run.
It is all about opportunity cost though and if it means Kittle or an upper echelon right tackle and guard then I would probably choose the 2-for-1 deal but imagine a spread attack of Green-Boyd-Higgins-Tate-Kittle. Who is covering that? Best of luck!
Kittle might be signed in the next few weeks (or hours even) but the tight end position could be an investment in the next year so this is certainly something to think about and keep an eye on. I mean the dude already has a Bengal paw tattoo on his bicep after all.