New Year’s Eve offered an interesting development on Twitter for the 49ers. 49ers tight end George Kittle gave Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown a shout-out on the social media site following reports of internal issues between Brown and his current team.

This may be passed off as one elite NFL player striking up a conversation with another on the internet, but it comes with a significant backstory that makes this tweet much more meaningful.

According to reports, Brown’s absence from the Steelers’ Week 17 win over the Bengals was not due to an injury. Brown was actually out because of an internal altercation with a teammate that ended with the receiver firing a football at a teammate Wednesday. Brown chose not to practice the rest of the week.

Brown, amid reports of internal conflict in Pittsburgh, chose to respond to the 49ers’ tight end.

Tweets don’t determine anything in regards to the NFL trade market, but Kittle’s tweet and Brown’s response weren’t made without pretense.

Brown, a four-time All-Pro, turns 31 prior to next season. He has three years left on a four-year, $68 million deal.

There’s a chance nothing comes from Brown’s end-of-season dispute and this Twitter exchange is rendered meaningless.

However, the 49ers will certainly kick tires on the receiver if he is made available on the trade market. San Francisco has the cap space to fit Brown, and a massive hole at the top of their receiver depth chart.

The 30-year-old posted 104 catches for 1,297 yards and a league-best 15 touchdowns in 15 games this season. He has 100-plus receptions in each of the last six seasons and is widely regarded as one of the two or three best receivers in the league.

It’ll be worth monitoring the Brown situation in Pittsburgh moving forward, especially given his seemingly positive response to Kittle’s small overture.