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- Mar 20, 2019
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The Seahawks thought they had a trade to draft George Kittle in 2017, and the tight end was convinced he was headed to Seattle.
Instead, the 49ers beat the Seahawks to the punch.
Seahawks General Manager John Schneider has said publicly said Seattle “missed [Kittle] by a minute.”
Kittle recently relayed his version of nearly going to the 49ers’ division rival.
“It was probably a minute before the Niners called me, my agent said, ‘Hey, the Seahawks are calling. They said they’re trading up to get you,'” Kittle told Matt Verderame on Stacking the Box podcast, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone. “And then, literally, I’m on the phone with him, my agent, and — he’s on my dad’s phone — and then I got a call from the Bay Area, and I was like, ‘I’m getting a call from the Bay.’ He was like, ‘Hang up on me and answer that.’ I was like, ‘Alright, sick.’
“The next thing I know, I’m talking to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, saying that they’re drafting me, and they’re excited to work with me. I was like, ‘I’m excited to be there. Let’s roll.'”
It is unclear which team the Seahawks were discussing a trade with or what they were offering. Seattle did not have a fifth-round pick that year, forfeiting it for violation of the NFL’s CBA regarding off-season workouts.
Tight end Jake Butt was the first choice of the fifth round, and Kittle followed with the next choice in the round. Butt has played eight games in his career.
Kittle was first-team All-Pro in 2019 and has earned two Pro Bowls.