The San Francisco 49ers are notably having a different offseason this year—a quieter one.
After years of holdouts, trade rumors and/or seemingly never-ending contract negotiations with star players like Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams, Brandon Aiyuk and Nick Bosa, the 49ers offseason is finally not filled with drama surrounding the team. They already agreed to a new contract with tight end George Kittle, and though the team is still working on extending Brock Purdy, the 49ers quarterback has already been present for the team's offseason program.
Kittle, who has spent his entire career with the 49ers since he was drafted in 2017, is happy to see the team not have drama this offseason.
"I'm happy that we don't have a bunch of guys holding out for contracts," Kittle said to Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I'm glad that we are not having a super drama-filled offseason. I think every year of my career we've had a quarterback controversy at some point. And to not have that, it's going great."
Kittle has found that the lack of drama and controversy around the team has resulted in a "fantastic" energy around the locker room and facility this offseason.
"And just when you have everybody in the building or the majority of the guys in the building, just the energy in the locker room is fantastic, the weight room is awesome, guys are working really hard," Kittle continued. "We have a lot of new free agents this year, so you want to meet everybody. You want everybody to get to know you before you get into the grind of training camp.”
There are of course several months to go until the start of the regular season, and there is no guarantee that the improved offseason vibes will translate into a better result for the 49ers next season. However, after holdouts appeared to impact the 49ers last season when they stumbled and went just 6-11, a newfound energy could be key in reviving this team into contenders once again.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as George Kittle Identifies Key Difference in 49ers' Offseason That Shifted Team's Energy.
