{"id":853733,"date":"2026-04-04T18:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853733\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:37:26","slug":"kyle-shanahan-highlights-49ers-key-edge-in-free-agent-recruiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853733\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Shanahan highlights 49ers’ key edge in free-agent recruiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before wide receiver Mike Evans<\/a> chose to sign with the San Francisco 49ers\u2014turning down a larger offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his team for 12 NFL seasons\u2014he reached out to a trusted source: tight end George Kittle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kittle, a nine-year veteran with the organization, played a key role in convincing Evans that San Francisco was the right fit as the receiver looked for a change heading into the 2026 NFL season.<\/p>\n

Head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this week and was asked about the value of having a player like Kittle\u2014someone who actively promotes the organization and helps attract free-agent talent.<\/p>\n

“It always is [helpful],” Shanahan said. “I mean, players, they talk to each other all the time, and when you have guys who communicate, guys who’ve got a good personality, guys who speak highly of the program and things like that, it definitely never hurts.”<\/p>\n

After signing with the 49ers, Evans confirmed just how impactful that conversation with Kittle was in his decision-making process.<\/p>\n

“George was the biggest salesman<\/a>,” Evans said. “George sold it big time, and he’s a big reason why I’m here, just because of the type of player and teammate that he is.”<\/p>\n

Kittle also offered insight into his recruiting pitch and what the 49ers organization has meant to him throughout his NFL career.<\/p>\n

“I was as honest as I could be<\/a> about the type of team we have and the type of franchise we have,” Kittle recently said. “The biggest thing I’m proud of as a Niner is how much the ownership puts back into the team and players, from how we travel to how they take care of us with body therapy. I think that’s unique and how every team should be, but not every team does that.<\/p>\n

“And I told him we have one thing in mind \u2014 to win a Super Bowl, and that’s a culture people want to be around.”<\/p>\n

With respected leaders like Kittle helping shape perception around the league, the 49ers continue to strengthen their reputation as a destination for players looking to succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before wide receiver Mike Evans chose to sign with the San Francisco 49ers\u2014turning down a larger offer from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-853733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","13":"tag-sanfrancisco","14":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116347892360105818","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}