NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers

The price for top tight ends had barely moved for much of the past decade until 49ers TE George Kittle pushed it forward a quantum leap with his five-year, $75 million deal. His $15 million average annual salary raised the bar by almost 40 percent and Kittle is happy to be the pioneer for his position to get what he thinks they deserve. 

“I think overall tight ends are occasionally forgot about or not advertised enough,” Kittle said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “And I think the fact that guys are exploding through the ceiling that was set with me, Travis Kelce got a fantastic new deal, I know [Zach] Ertz is about to get one and the guys that are just blowing through that, it’s fun to see and I think tight ends will just continue to prove that we’re worth a lot to the team.”

49ers RB Jerick McKinnon has never played in a game for San Francisco and his few practices haven’t gone all that well for him, either. McKinnon tore his ACL in camp after signing with the team in 2018, then when he tried to come back last offseason it was clear he needed more work. But so far in 2020, McKinnon has looked like the athletic receiving back the team thought it was getting two years ago. 

“When he came back last year, trying to get him back and he’d try to work through it, you could tell it just didn’t heal right,” 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said via NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco. “He had to go through all that stuff again. It’s still the first day, the first step, but you can tell it healed right. And you can tell Jet’s put that work in, and you feel all that he’s gone through the past two years. I feel he’s finally in position where he has a chance to have that comeback now.”

• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said he is hopeful that WR Deebo Samuel (foot) will be ready for Week 1, but it is “still a bit early” to predict his availability. (Wagoner)
• Shanahan has been impressed with first-round WR Brandon Aiyuk‘s professionalism so far: “Since we’ve been around him, you can tell he’s been working. That’s why he’s further ahead than a lot of rookies would be at this time.” (Maiocco)
• As for 49ers DL Arik Armstead‘s back injury, Shanahan told reports that he’s “not too worried” after the lineman experienced some stiffness and plan to ease him back over the next week. (Wagoner)
• Shanahan said 49ers LB Kwon Alexander does not have any competition as their starting WILL linebacker. (Maiocco)

Cardinals

The Cardinals and HC Kliff Kingsbury are looking forward to big things from S Jalen Thompson now that they have committed to him starting opposite S Budda Baker in 2020.

“We expect him to take that next step,” Kingsbury said, via Alex Weiner of SI. “And so far, so good. We can tell he’s a lot more comfortable. Just personality-wise, his understanding of the scheme, the system. I think more than anything, the progress he showed last year, the type of personality, competitive nature, work ethic, all those things, we like where he’s heading.”

Baker also said Thompson “can be versatile. He could play free or strong (safety). I feel like he’s going to do some great things this year for sure.” Cardinals DC Vance Joseph also had good things to say about Thompson. 

“His trade is how fast he plays and how well he tackles,” Joseph said. “As far as his IQ moving forward, it’s going to get better, but he is definitely the answer for us right now at the safety position.”

Seahawks

Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett said he “definitely had a lot of hesitation” about playing this season, due to many of his family members having asthma and the fact that his aorta is located on his right side.

“So just with everything that happened in COVID, that was one of my biggest issues was just trying to make sure [this heart condition] wasn’t gonna affect me if I was able to go out there and play,” Lockett said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “Obviously, nobody really knows. You’ve got doctors who kind of give you what you need to know upfront, what they think, and what their biggest opinion is of it, but I think I had my chance to opt-out, and I said that if I come up here, I’m gonna just play. I know that we’ve got Pete [Carroll], we’ve got a lot of older coaches. They don’t want to put themselves in a situation to get sick neither, so I told myself if they could do it then I know I could do it. And if I’m going to come out here and play, then I’m just going to do what needs to be done. I’m not going to stress about COVID. I did that from February to before we came into camp.”

• The Seattle Seahawks brought in free agent DT P.J. Johnson for a tryout on Sunday, according to Albert Breer.