A kicking battle? More targets for Kittle? What we just learned about next season’s 49ers

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NFC coaches’ breakfast at the NFL’s annual spring owners meeting is never a comfortable event. It starts at 7:45, which may not seem excessively painful — until one factors in West Coasters’ three-hour jet lag and considers that the league’s annual cocktail reception runs late into the prior night.

But early Tuesday morning, Kyle Shanahan fought through the fatigue to deliver an insightful media session. He made it into the cramped media tent on the grounds of The Breakers, Palm Beach’s iconic supercentenarian resort hotel. And as reporters hovered around his table, the 49ers coach delivered what’s typically his longest interview of the year.

Here’s what we learned about the 49ers at the coaches’ breakfast — and over the course of two days in South Florida.

George Kittle may turn 32 this season, but the 49ers have every reason to believe he’s still in the midst of his prime. That’s why they’re working to extend his contract this offseason. The tight end caught eight touchdowns in 2024, the most he’s ever logged in conjunction with a 1,000-yard season.

Shanahan is intent on extending Kittle’s window for prolific production. That was part of the thinking last month when the 49ers signed free agent tight end Luke Farrell to a deal worth about $5.4 million annually.

“Kittle is really good in pass protection, but you don’t always want to use a guy in pass protection who’s really good running routes,” Shanahan said. “So having another tight end with the length to block defensive ends is important so you can double team inside guys with an O-line and get someone like Kittle out on routes.”

Kittle was asked to pass block 58 times last season. That’s 58 possible routes he didn’t run. Since he averaged 2.62 receiving yards per route run in 2024, simple math suggests that 49ers left 152 Kittle receiving yards on the table.

There’s also the issue of run blocking. The 49ers took severe tumbles in ground game efficiency last season after losing Kittle’s sidekick, Charlie Woerner, to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. Shanahan thinks Farrell will help the 49ers pick up the slack.

“I think [the second tight end spot is] one of the critical things in running the ball to balance out the two sides of the formation,” Shanahan said. “When you have a threat to go to defensive end on both sides of the ball, it’s a big deal.”

Shanahan shared a notably rosy appraisal of Jake Brendel, who — by statistical metrics — was a middling performer in 2024.

“I thought Jake played well,” Shanahan said. “When you study centers throughout the league and things like that and you watch all these guys, I think Jake’s up there when it comes to his pass protection. I think Jake does protection as good as anyone in this league. I think he’s always been a very good run player for us, too. I think Jake’s played at a pretty high level. I think our whole line has.”

Brendel’s Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade registered in the 39th percentile among centers. His run-blocking grade was better, scoring in the 69th percentile. And the 49ers’ offensive line, though it did actually improve from 2023 to 2024, was far from an exemplary unit statistically.

So what gives?

Pass- and run-blocking grades aren’t the end-all, be-all for evaluating linemen — especially when it comes to centers, who are tasked with identifying safety rotations and setting protections for the entire line. Shanahan obviously appreciates Brendel’s cerebral contributions, even though the center seems to have become a punching bag for frustrated fans clamoring for change.

That said, Shanahan’s appraisal remains conspicuously complimentary. And the 49ers, starting with general manager John Lynch’s comments on Monday, have made it clear that they’re interested in upgrading their O-line with some of their 11 picks during this draft. It’s just impossible to know who’ll be available for the 49ers when it comes their turn to pick.

Brendel, 32, is under contract for two more seasons. Perhaps he can shepherd a youngster into the mix. But unless the 49ers pick someone like North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel early in the draft, it doesn’t appear that Brendel’s starting job is in jeopardy. Shanahan even indicated that Brendel’s backup, Matt Hennessy, will be a more serious competitor for the starting spot at left guard than center.

One more O-line note: It appears that the 49ers now consider Spencer Burford a tackle, although the fourth-year man — who started in 2022 and 2023 at right guard — can still help out on the interior. Burford finished 2024 playing left tackle.

Shanahan would’ve liked to have kept Jordan Mason, whom the 49ers traded to the Minnesota Vikings, but knew that doing so would be prohibitively expensive. Mason had been set to make at least $5.3 million on the second-round restricted free agent tender, and the 49ers will likely look to add a third running back at less than 20 percent of that cost.

Although Mason ran very well before suffering a season-ending high-ankle sprain, he wasn’t nearly as efficient as Christian McCaffrey and rookie Isaac Guerendo in the receiving game.

A common refrain from 49ers’ leadership in Palm Beach: If McCaffrey is healthy in 2025, they expect a successful season even while renovating their defense — because a healthy McCaffrey means a potent offense. Guerendo’s emergence as a dual-threat back can help keep McCaffrey fresh.

“I was impressed with how tough [Guerendo] competed, how hard he ran,” Shanahan said. “I think he ran harder as the year went on, which is a really good sign for guys. Because if you run less hard as the year goes on, you’re probably not going to be running too much in the future. I was impressed with the mentality he had.

“He’s gonna find a way to take care of his body so he can stay healthy and get through an NFL season. I think the future’s bright for him.”

This was expected, and now it’s confirmed: The 49ers will add a kicker — likely a veteran — to pressure and test Jake Moody, who struggled after a high-ankle sprain last season.

“As long as we bring in a guy who’s capable of taking that job and Jake respects him, that’s what puts pressure on him because you’ve got to respect the guy you’re going against, and he does have to beat him out in practice,” Shanahan said, adding that the competition will extend into the three preseason games. “When your job’s on the line doing something, going against someone who’s talented, you do feel that pressure. And I do believe if [Moody] can overcome that and beat out a capable guy, that’ll show us he’s ready for the season.”

Might that capable competition be Nick Folk? The 40-year old kicker is coming off the best two seasons of his career. He made 50 of 52 field goals and 53 of 55 extra points over 2023 and 2024 with the Tennessee Titans. The trick might be convincing a kicker of Folk’s caliber to sign into a situation with competition, and that’s why new 49ers special teams coordinator Brant Boyer and his assistant Colt Anderson — who coached Folk last year with the Titans — are also scouting rookie prospects.

We know that new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was adamant about the 49ers pursuing Dre Greenlaw, and we know that the team did indeed aggressively go after the linebacker before he signed with the Denver Broncos. That suggests the 49ers, since they didn’t land Greenlaw, might consider they have a real void next to superstar Fred Warner.

But while team brass certainly has its eyes on rookie linebackers — Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell might be the best player in this NFL Draft, but recovery from shoulder surgery could hurt his stock — they’re also bullish on the future of third-year man Dee Winters.

Remember that De’Vondre Campbell, before he quit on the 49ers last December, had been usurped by Winters on the depth chart.

“He plays to our style,” Shanahan said of Winters. “He loves to run and hit. I think he got a taste of that last year. I think we all did. Now I think he’s just working on his body trying to improve so he can stay healthy and play the way that he does through a 17-game season.

“But he’s shown that potential, and we’ll bring in some competition here in the draft, hopefully. We’ve got some younger guys, and not many that haven’t played, but there are going to be a lot of open spots there. And I think we’ve got some hungry guys who are excited to earn it.”

Another player to watch: Second-year man Tatum Bethune, who learned the middle linebacker position last season and should now also be ready to fill in at the weakside spot.

Aside from a vague report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that suggested Brandon Aiyuk could be back from his ACL tear by midseason, there hasn’t been much clarity about the receiver’s return timeline.

A midseason return would mark a particularly long recovery — over a year from the time of Aiyuk’s October 2024 injury. But Shanahan provided a more optimistic glimmer when he said “there’s a chance” that Aiyuk is back for the start of the season.

“It’s too early in the process [to have a definitive timeline],” Shanahan said. “We’ll have to get closer to training camp to see what that looks like.”

Shanahan confirmed that veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson, whom the 49ers signed away from the Los Angeles Rams, can slot into Aiyuk’s ‘X’ position. So can Jauan Jennings, who filled in for Aiyuk at the X last season.

Aiyuk’s $22.9 million option bonus vested into its five-year proration on the 49ers’ salary cap on April 1, the day Shanahan spoke. This effectively killed any chance the team would trade the receiver this offseason.

There were other April 1 contract triggers:

Shanahan wrapped up his media breakfast shortly after discussing Aiyuk. His fellow coaches finished up, too. Work was done in Palm Beach. It was time to head to the pool.