Dianna Russini loves George Kittle.
Contrary to popular belief, The Athletic’s senior NFL insider gets along great with the San Francisco 49ers’ All-Pro tight end. They have a good reporter-player relationship, even after Kittle took to X to inform Russini that her sources were “incorrect.” Russini reported on Wednesday that Kittle’s absence from OTAs was contract-related, as the 31-year-old Iowa product seeks to be the highest-paid tight end in the league.
Essentially, Russini reported that Kittle wants more than the Arizona Cardinals just gave Trey McBride, which is four years and $76 million.
Kittle said that wasn’t the case.
And Russini’s immediate reaction when she saw Kittle’s name pop up in her mentions? “Oh, boy. Here we go.”
“I think what happens sometimes in these negotiations, once you say publicly you want to be the highest-paid player, or at least it’s reported that that’s what you’re looking for,” Russini said on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Thursday, “and that conversation was already had with the team. And then you don’t get it, it’s kind of hard to recover from that. I think players, they don’t like to have that out there. Because then if they cave, they don’t want to cave publicly. They kind of just want to cave privately.”
She’s seen this movie before. Russini recalled that when she reported, her good friend, Aaron Rodgers, wanted to make $50 million a year.
“He went on Pat McAfee and said, ‘This girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about. That is not true. That is all lies. Journalists are terrible. She’s dumb.’ Whatever he said,” Russini recalled. “Guess who signed for $50 million a few weeks later? It’s just not a good locker room look.”
And sure, the X reply guys are out in full force, saying it’s a bad look for Russini after Kittle’s public denial. But she’s unbothered. Loud or quiet, famous or anonymous, it doesn’t matter who’s calling her wrong. She trusts her reporting.
“To me, I’ve consistently proven that my information is right,” she says. “And it always goes back to where you’re getting your information from. The firmer you can be, I have found over the years, then the stronger the source is. Like if I wasn’t getting it from an agent [who’s] known to lie, or a friend, I’m not going hard with that. As you build your network over the years, and you know the reliable ones, you can hammer hard. That’s why I’m able to go and say, ‘Hey, Aaron, no, that’s what you want.’ And that’s what he got, because that’s the truth.
“George Kittle wants to be the highest-paid tight end. I’m not saying it and going against him — even after he tweeted me — if I didn’t have this by very well-informed people. But, it does stink, because I do think fans want to believe the players all the time. And I get it. It’s OK. I’m not trying to cause the drama. It’s just, the truth is the truth.”
If Kittle ends up topping the tight end market, Russini’s “incorrect” report might age just fine.
