4 free-agent tight ends 49ers can pursue to pair with George Kittle
By Peter Panacy
49ers TE target No. 1: Robert Tonyan, Packers
George Kittle has always been close with his fellow tight ends no matter who they might be. And of the free-agent tight ends out there, few are as close with Kittle as the Green Bay Packers’ Robert Tonyan.
The Packers are more than $20 million over the salary cap heading into 2022, so retaining Tonyan would be difficult. Sure, he’s coming off an ACL tear that limited him to just eight games played last season, generating only 18 receptions for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
But he’s still just a full season removed from an 11-touchdown campaign in 2020, and San Francisco could use even more red-zone help heading into 2022.
I didn’t realize this, but Robert Tonyan would be a nice little pairing with George Kittle for the #49ers.
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) February 25, 2022
Tonyan’s coming off the ACL tear, but already has a relationship with Kittle and is coming off of his best season as a professional.
Sure, the 49ers probably want to steer clear of players who have injury concerns, although signing Tonyan wouldn’t exactly be a high-risk move, considering he’d only be assuming a No. 2 spot on the depth chart.
More importantly, the Niners would be getting someone to support and back up Kittle, should the latter wind up suffering another injury.
As Tonyan showed in 2020, he’s more than capable of shouldering the load.
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