George Kittle shares candid thoughts on Kyle Shanahan, 49ers' offseason

Early offseason exit brought unexpected benefits

While the 2024 season didn't go as planned for the San Francisco 49ers—finishing with a disappointing 6-11 record and landing in last place in the NFC West—the early end to their campaign came with one silver lining: a rare early start to the offseason. It marked the first time since 2020 that the team didn't make a deep playoff run, giving players more time to rest, recover, and reconnect.

Player participation in the voluntary offseason program was nearly perfect. By the time organized team activities (OTAs) rolled around, the facility was buzzing with energy and packed with players. According to Kittle, that hasn't always been the case.

"This year, your season ends in January, you get that extra month off," Kittle said. "Whether you vacation, take care of your body, whatever you do, that itch to play football and hang out with the boys comes back a little bit quicker. And so, I think everybody just wanted to be back in the building.

"And having everybody there, just practicing every day, working out together every day, sitting in meetings every day, it's just really fun. And you kind of build that team chemistry a little bit."

In previous years, Kittle noted that 10 to 15 players would often skip the early stages of the offseason program, which included him.

"And now, everybody was there since Phase One," Kittle said. "So, you just build those relationships a little bit quicker, get to see guys make plays. We have a ton of free agents. We have a ton of young guys. There's some openings on our roster; that's pretty obvious.

"We've had a lot of departures, key departures, and a lot of opportunities for young guys to step up and take advantage of those opportunities. Seeing those guys kind of make some cool plays during OTAs was kind of fun to see, and hopefully, that just carries over into camp."