What George Kittle Thinks About an 18-Game NFL Season

An 18-game NFL season could be on the horizons in the near future. George Kittle recently gave his thoughts should that come to fruition.

Feb 5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) talks to the media during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports | Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

An 18-game NFL regular season could be arriving in the future.

It is something that commissioner Roger Goodell has hinted at this offseason. The NFL just went from 16 games to 17 three years ago. You would think that they would relax on wanting to increase the games in a season that quickly.

But what most likely is enticing Goodell, and possibly the owners, is the extra revenue. The NFL surely has cashed out immensely from having a 17-game season, so it wouldn't be surprising if they wanted to add another to earn more again.

It is unclear when an 18-game NFL regular season can come about, but the players across the league have been getting asked their thoughts. On Wednesday, 49ers star tight end George Kittle gave his thoughts on the NFL increasing the season by one more game.

"Well I've been saying forever that I think we need two Byes regardless," said Kittle. "I think it is an incredibly long season. An extra bye, all it does is add an extra week to the season, more t.v. deals, and stuff like that. More money on TV. So, I think realistically if you want to play eighteen games, you're going to have to shorten something else somewhere and they talked about taking a preseason game out, which to me doesn't really matter because I play in one preseason game a year. I think most vets do, so that doesn't really do anything for anybody.

"I think if you don't add two Bye weeks you're gonna look at a lot of teams that are missing a lot of key players because I think it's hard for players to stay healthy that long. I also think eighteen games is aggressive. And if you get to eighteen games, is the paycheck getting cut into eighteenths? Or is it more money because of the extra game? I think there are a lot of things to discuss, but I'm all for adding two Byes to the season cause that gives you an extra Bye regardless, so hopefully we get that."