The 49ers may feel good about George Kittle’s odds of being ready for Week 1, but that doesn’t mean they should stop shopping for help at tight end. In a league that punishes teams for assuming health will hold, San Francisco has a pretty obvious fallback sitting right in the Bay Area: Zach Ertz.
Ertz has been training at Stanford with Andrew Luck, his old quarterback, and the video of the two working together has already made the rounds. The 13-year veteran is trying to bounce back after an ACL tear last year, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he has been cleared for all football activities and wants to play this upcoming season.
That makes him a clean fit for a 49ers team that could use a little more insurance. Kittle is expected to be back for Week 1, but his injury history is part of the equation too; he missed half of last season with a hamstring issue.
Adding Ertz wouldn’t mean panicking about Kittle. It would mean planning for the reality that San Francisco has lived through before.
The numbers still show Ertz has something left. Last season with the Washington Commanders, he put up 504 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
He’s not the Pro Bowl force he once was, but he doesn’t need to be. For the 49ers, a steady veteran who can step into the rotation is plenty valuable.
There’s also a roster angle here that makes sense. Ricky Pearsall is already out for the season, and the injury list is beginning to swell again. That’s familiar territory for San Francisco, and it’s exactly why a move like this feels practical rather than flashy.
Jake Tonges would be the obvious name affected, but Ertz wouldn’t have to push him out of the picture. Tonges played well when Kittle was unavailable last season, and Ertz’s arrival could actually give Kyle Shanahan more ways to mix and match. Two-tight-end and even three-tight-end looks would stay on the table, and that kind of flexibility is never wasted in this offense.
If Ertz is looking for a guaranteed starting job, the 49ers probably aren’t the destination. But if he wants a chance to play for a good team in a familiar part of the country, San Francisco checks those boxes.
John Lynch doesn’t need to go far to do the homework. Stanford is a short drive from Santa Clara, and Ertz is already working in the neighborhood. If the 49ers want a straightforward George Kittle insurance policy, the answer is sitting there in the Bay Area.
In Other News...
49ers Camp Just Took Another Hit As Depth Concerns Grow
The 49ers training camp continues to get thinner by the day, with injuries and maintenance days starting to pile up across the roster. Several wide receivers are still out, and the team has had to keep shuffling bodies just to keep practice moving, even as it tries to build toward the 2026 preseason schedule.
San Francisco also has been managing the workload of key players like Nick Bosa, giving veterans rest days to keep them fresh. In the middle of all that, the club has had to add outside help at receiver and along the defensive line, a reminder that camp depth is becoming a real concern before the games even begin. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Aiyuk Just Made The 49ers Situation Even More Awkward
Brandon Aiyuks situation has gone from tense to messy for the 49ers, with the wide receiver making it clear he would prefer a fresh start in Washington. His public comments and social media activity have kept the topic alive, including criticism aimed at San Francisco and interactions with Jayden Daniels, all of which has only added to the noise around a player the 49ers once hoped to keep at the center of their offense.
Washington, though, does not appear to be the clean exit ramp Aiyuk may have had in mind. The Commanders have concerns about his behavior and the kind of presence he would bring into the locker room, and the door to any real move still requires a formal step that has not happened yet. For the 49ers, it leaves an awkward standoff in place, with Aiyuk publicly leaning elsewhere but no obvious resolution on the horizon. [Read more 🡒]
49ers May Regret Passing On Proven Pass Rush Help
The 49ers spent part of the offseason weighing whether to add more proven help on the edge, but they ultimately passed on a veteran rusher who was looking for a new landing spot. With injuries and some inexperience creating real depth concerns on the defensive line, San Francisco instead turned to veteran Ogbo Okoronkwo to help stabilize the group and add another option to the rotation.
The choice to stay away from the veteran market could look even more interesting now because the player in question signed a one-year deal with Houston, a relatively modest arrangement for a pass rusher with his track record. Injury history was always part of the calculation for San Francisco, but the 49ers may still wind up wondering whether the safer bet on paper was the right one if their front continues to thin out. [Read more 🡒]