Who Should I Start? George Kittle or Trey McBride

Thursday, April 24, 12:08 AM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle wants to become the league's highest-paid tight end, a league source told The Athletic's Dianna Russini. Kittle would have to top the four-year, $76 million deal that 25-year-old Trey McBride recently inked with the Arizona Cardinals. So far the 49ers' offers to Kittle have been rebuffed, and the two sides are far apart from a deal, which is why Kittle didn't show up to the start of the team's voluntary offseason workouts earlier this week. He will be turning 32 in October and is set to enter the start of the final year of his current deal in 2025. Other teams are keeping an eye out, but so far, Kittle isn't requesting a trade. Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Kittle finished as the TE2 in PPR scoring in 2024 thanks to 78 catches, 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games. He'll be an injury-prone, high-end fantasy TE1 that thrives on per-target efficiency rather than volume.

Thursday, April 3, 4:43 PM

The Arizona Cardinals are making Pro Bowl tight end Trey McBride the highest-paid tight end in NFL history with a four-year, $76 million contract extension on Thursday, according to his agents. The deal includes $43 million guaranteed and a $19 million average per year, which is the highest ever for any NFL tight end. The 25-year-old former second-rounder (55th overall) in 2022 out of Colorado State was a first-time Pro Bowler in 2024 while setting career-highs in receptions (111), targets (147), receiving yards (1,146) in 16 games. Despite only finding the end zone two times, McBride still finished as the TE2 in standard scoring in his third year in the league, with his 111 catches falling just one short of Brock Bowers' 112 for the league lead. He should score more in 2025 in his fourth year in the NFL, making him an elite TE1 target for fantasy managers.