George Kittle always has a good time, and he's now joining Brandon Aiyuk in the game of cryptic emojis.
It's pretty clear there's a standoff between the San Francisco 49ers and their top wide receiver from the last two seasons, Brandon Aiyuk.
Aiyuk is looking for a hefty contract extension as he enters the fully guaranteed fifth-year option stemming from his original rookie contract when he was drafted back in 2020. After recording a career-high 1,342 yards last season, he won't come cheap.
Making things more difficult, the Niners are already dealing with salary cap challenges entering 2024 and beyond.
On Monday, speaking from the NFL owners meeting, general manager John Lynch shot down any rumor that San Francisco was looking to trade Aiyuk as a result of not being able to agree to an extension. From Lynch, it's the 49ers' goal to keep the wideout around for the long run and "to be a part of the Niners."
Negotiations will continue.
But it doesn't appear as if Aiyuk is fully happy with how things are going. On his Instagram (h/t Bleacher Report), he shared the following:
Brandon Aiyuk via his IG story 👀 pic.twitter.com/X1avm018jU
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) March 25, 2024
For our best attempt at emoji translations, Aiyuk is saying,"Money talks, bulls--t walks."
Perhaps it's just part of his negotiation process, and it's not the only social media activity he's had that's generated headlines.
But, as it turns out, his teammates are having a little fun, too.
George Kittle joins the fray with hilarious emoji post
Aiyuk's offensive teammate, tight end George Kittle, never shies away from having a good time, and he's been known to poke fun at various things on social media, too.
While Kittle doesn't have to worry about contract extension talks anytime soon, he can at least play the emoji game, which he did on his own Instagram account (h/t @TheSFNiners):
#49ers George Kittle joined in with some cryptic emoji’s 🧐 pic.twitter.com/Wm9arG5qGF
— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) March 25, 2024
Props to anyone who can translate Kittle's own string of emojis. Double points to anyone who can figure out what's in the background.
It's probably not a sauna, which appeared to be the case in Aiyuk's post.
Kittle is definitely not giving Aiyuk too hard of a time. The two are close and share mutual respect, so it's not a slight of any kind.
Just some fun, because that's what kind of person Kittle is.