Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Kendrick Bourne

Tuesday, April 29, 1:03 PM

Six-time Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle signed a four-year, $76.4 million contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday that includes $40 million guaranteed, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Now that the two sides were able to work out a contract extension, Kittle should show up for the team's voluntary offseason program, while the Niners can now turn their full attention to getting an extension done with quarterback Brock Purdy. Despite being on the wrong side of 30 -- he'll turn 32 in October, Kittle finished as the TE2 in half-PPR scoring last year, behind only Las Vegas Raiders rookie Brock Bowers. He finished 2024 with 78 catches on 94 targets for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns in only 15 games played. Kittle is a high-end fantasy tight end, but he's also injury-prone and relies more on efficiency than volume, as he hasn't had triple-digit targets since 2019.

Saturday, February 22, 12:03 PM

The Athletic's Chad Graff suggests that it could be time for the New England Patriots to move on from wide receiver Kendrick Bourne this offseason, even if he's their top player at their biggest position of need. Bourne missed the start of the 2024 season while recovering from a torn right ACL and caught only 28 passes on 38 targets for 305 yards and one touchdown in 12 games (nine starts) once he returned. With a new coaching regime in town, the Patriots could move on from Bourne, who will be heading into his age-30 season in 2025. New England would save $4.9 million in salary cap space if they cut him before June 1 or $6.3 million if they cut him with a post-June 1 designation. Bourne is under contract with the Patriots through the 2026 season, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see this rebuilding organization go in another direction as they completely rebuild their receiving corps.