Home

NFL

George Kittle’s Agent Compares Contract Negotiations With ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’

Published 08/17/2020, 6:43 PM EDT

Follow Us

George Kittle has stamped his authority in the league over the last two years. The 2017 fifth-round NFL draft pick had a record-breaking 2018 season. He ended the year with a single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end at 1,377. He followed that up with another stellar showing in 2019 as the San Francisco 49ers made the Super Bowl.

Despite a loss to the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs in Miami, Kyle Shanahan’s team won a lot of hearts along the course of the season. Kittle, in particular, made his way to the top 10 NFL players list. It was no secret that George was criminally underpaid and was pushing for a record-breaking contract extension.

After a nervy off season, 49ers fans were relieved to see their very own star sign a five-year deal which made him the highest-paid tight end in the league. But as Kittle’s agent Jack Behta revealed, it was not an easy take by any means.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“Going to use him as much as possible” – Chris Godwin On Playing Alongside Tom Brady

Jack Bechta reveals ‘behind-the-scenes’ narration of George Kittle contract extension

In a recent conversation with NFL correspondent Michael Silver, Jack Bechta gave some insight into his client’s contract negotiations. He also spoke about the ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’ incident with respect to talks with 49ers Executive, Paraag Marathe.

“The first thing that hit me was, if you ever want to put out some bad news, you do it late on a Friday — like a Friday news dump. I was going to a little gathering with some friends in the neighborhood, and I decided not to open it till the next afternoon. When I did, the first thing I noticed was how long it was. Usually, the more paragraphs that come with a proposal, the worse the deal is. This one had a lot of paragraphs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NFL stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

“After I took a good look at the offer. I started calling it ‘The Valentine’s Day Massacre,'” Bechta said.

When Bechta finally spoke to Marathe, he said, “I’m not even entertaining [the offer]. It’s a non-starter. I’m not even showing this to George, to help protect you guys. Get back to me when you get serious.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

George Kittle signed a five-year, $75 million contract with the 49ers with an $18 million signing bonus. In doing so, Kittle is now the highest-paid tight end in the league ahead of Los Angeles Chargers’ Hunter Henry and Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce. Kittle will be eager to repay the faith shown in him by the 49ers by helping them reach the Super Bowl once again this year.

WATCH: Russell Wilson Putting In The Yards In Latest Pre Season Training Regime

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Daniel Arambur

1,857Articles

One take at a time

Daniel Arambur is an NFL writer and content strategist for EssentiallySports.With more than 1,000 articles, he is one of the senior writers in the NFL cohort at ES. A mass media graduate from the University of Mumbai, Daniel has found the perfect blend of vocation and passion in the sports content niche.
Show More>