Kittle uses perfect analogy to describe Aiyuk-49ers contract talks

SANTA CLARA — While Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers attempt to work out a contract extension, the Second-Team All-Pro receiver has a sympathetic ear in George Kittle. Kittle understands exactly what his teammate is going through, having experienced his own negotiations just a few years ago which made him the third highest-paid tight end in the NFL. "Something that I like to tell anyone going through a contract is the same thing that Richard Sherman told me — contracts are like braces," Kittle said Tuesday. "They suck the entire time, and then once you get them off, you forget that you ever had them. "This time, in the case of a contract, you get a big bag of money." Kittle found Sherman helpful to talk to. The two were teammates during the 2018-2020 seasons, which included the period when Kittle underwent contract negotiations with the 49ers. While the tight end vowed to keep his conversations with Aiyuk private, the Iowa product is happy to be a resource for his teammate. "I just tried to tell him it's a horrible process," Kittle said. "I hated the entire process when I was going through it. [Nick] Bosa's last year was awful. He didn't get it done until the first week of the...