San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle isn’t one to shy away from a topic and express how he truly feels. Moreover, the veteran will give a clear and thorough response, as he did when discussing the NFL potentially adding an 18th game to the schedule.
The NFL is king in the United States and has grown past the Sundays and Mondays on the usual schedule.
There are more international games, and the league is moving its games on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day outside of its traditional Thanksgiving Day games. Furthermore, the Super Bowl in 2027 will fall on Valentine’s Day.
With the game growing and the league looking to expand to an 18-game schedule, Kittle shared his thoughts on the potential decision from the NFL, saying he’s open to it but wants two things from the league for the players.
“You got to have an extra bye regardless,” Kittle told Front Office Sports in a May 28 article. “This season is too long as it is. I think 16 games was perfect. They add an extra game for more TV stuff, which, hey I get it makes everyone more money. If you’re gonna add an 18th game you gotta add an extra bye.”
49ers’ George Kittle Gives Strong Message to NFL
Moreover, Kittle went on to address the financial side of the situation, given that he believes some players received the short end of the stick when the league went to 17 games.
“The one thing that didn’t really make sense to me is you sign a contract to play 16 games,” Kittle added. “They added the 17th game and you don’t get paid anymore money, your paycheck just gets cut an extra time.
“So you’re making 17 paychecks instead of 16. So in my opinion I’m just like if you bumped up the payment a little bit for that last game instead of cutting it again I think guys would be more interested in that as well.”
Despite some players getting the short end of the stick in their contract situations, they still picked up extra revenue from the 17th game. Furthermore, they would almost certainly want another increase if the league moves to 18. At that point, owners would need to offer additional concessions of their own to justify further expansion of the schedule.
George Kittle Isn’t a Fan of a Potential 18 Game Schedule
Although Kittle is open to the idea of an 18th game, that doesn’t mean he likes the decision, which would be his concession to what the league might want to do. The regular season is a grind for players and teams as they look to enter each New Year as healthy as possible to run a playoff gauntlet and win a Super Bowl.
“You can’t keep doing this ’cause the game is hard enough as it is,” Kittle said. “If you look back at last year, the amount of players who were hurt it’s actually insane. Let’s take care of the guys a little bit here.”
It will be interesting to see what concessions the players and owners make to make an 18-game schedule happen, but it does look like it’s on its way.
49ers’ George Kittle Makes Feelings Clear on Potential NFL Decision