Colton McKivitz says he wants to be part of a “10-year wall” in San Francisco, a milestone he’s chasing after a rocky start that still led him back to the 49ers. The former West Virginia tackle has become the starting right tackle since 2023, started every gam
Colton McKivitz doesn’t talk like a player counting down to the next contract. He talks like someone building toward a finish line.
“I want to be on that 10-year wall,” McKivitz said. For the 49ers’ starting right tackle, that goal isn’t a vague dream—it’s measured in seasons, and it has started to look reachable.
McKivitz’s road to San Francisco’s long-term plans began when he was a fifth-round rookie in 2020. He appeared in 14 games with three starts. Then came the stop-and-start that no player wants to experience early in a career: in August 2021, he was released.
The 49ers moved him back through the familiar rollercoaster of roster mechanics. After he cleared waivers, they brought him back to the practice squad. By November of that year, he returned to the active roster—and since that comeback, he hasn’t looked back.
His next step arrived after Mike McGlinchey signed with the Broncos as a free agent in 2023. With that change, McKivitz became the 49ers’ starting right tackle. He has started every game since then, a stretch that includes all seven playoff games and Super Bowl LVIII.
For McKivitz, the scars from the earlier release are part of the motivation. “I don’t want to leave here,” he said. “Obviously being cut, I’ve got some scars there. But there was a reason why I was drafted here. why I was cut here. and why I still play here. Now I’ve had three good seasons of starting and I’m going into the fourth.”.
That momentum now has a contract to match. Last September, McKivitz signed a three-year, $45 million extension that runs through 2028. With that timeline in place, he’s one year away from the 10-season mark he described—closing in on the exact number he’s been aiming for.
Colton McKivitz San Francisco 49ers 10-year wall Mike McGlinchey Broncos West Virginia Super Bowl LVIII NFL contract extension