49ers tight end George Kittle acknowledged that San Francisco’s Super Bowl window “could be closing,” leading to a strong sense of urgency for the club to win now.
After making consecutive NFC championship appearances, the pass-catching talent believes the 49ers have a roster capable of winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl since 1994. However, Kittle understands the NFL’s salary cap will inevitably lead to changes in the near future.
The club signed Javon Hargrave in free agency and recently extended star wideout Deebo Samuel, but fellow wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and star pass rusher Nick Bosa are free agents after this season.
“I think that’s something that our team is very aware of,” Kittle told 49ers Webzone. “We have a lot of highly-paid players on this team who have earned that money, and you can only pay so many guys. And we know that some of those guys are at the end of their contracts, the end of the guarantees, and that’s when things start to move.”
While the team’s front office faces challenges to keep its core players in the fold, the standout leader said that veterans welcome the challenge of winning before any potential roster changes come down the road.
“We have a fantastic football team,” Kittle added. “We have a great core of guys at really important positions. We understand that the window, whatever that is, could be closing. We’re going to try our best just to keep that window open as long as we possibly can, but we’re going to try to sneak out some wins while that window is still open, according to everybody else.”
