The 49ers need a No. 1 wide receiver and George Kittle is on the case.
In the wake of an ESPN report that Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown got into a dispute with a teammate and skipped practices ahead of the 2018 season finale on Sunday, the 49ers tight end sent a curious tweet to Brown at 10:05 p.m. PT on New Years Eve.
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Just 25 minutes later, Brown responded.
Brown is the dynamic playmaker Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers need. The 30-year-old caught 104 passes for 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. Brown has at least 1,284 receiving yards in each of the last six seasons.
Among 49ers wide receivers in 2018, Kendrick Bourne had the high-water mark with 487 yards on 42 receptions.
Brown has two years remaining on a four-year, $68 million contract he signed with Pittsburgh prior to the 2017 season. According to Spotract, Brown has a base salary of $12.625 million in 2019 with a cap hit of $22.165 million.
A few of Kittle's teammates took notice of his tweet and chimed in.
Kittle needs some help and he's trying to make things happen himself. Now, let's see if GM John Lynch is willing to pony up the high price it would take to get Brown from the Steelers.