George Kittle Explains Why Tight End Is No Longer an Overlooked Position in Football: “Offenses Have Seen Success”

49ers George Kittle believes that the growth of the tight ends is essential for NFL teams that are aiming to win Super Bowls.

George Kittle Explains Why Tight End Is No Longer an Overlooked Position in Football: “Offenses Have Seen Success”

George Kittle and Travis Kelce answering questions before Super Bowl (Image via IMAGO)

George Kittle, Travis Kelce, and Greg Olsen teamed up five years ago to create the Tight End University—a group that will promote and train athletes to be better tight ends. Each year, tight ends from every NFL team gather for a few days to train and learn new skills in the offseason.

Tight ends do a lot of work. They receive passes, block for teammates, and coaches occasionally use them to keep others in check. More often than not, teams prefer a muscular and intimidating guy for the job. Kittle and Kelce undeniably fit that bill.

However, the tight end position was less glamorous than its receiver counterpart. Players rarely came under the spotlight. The tide is slowly shifting. Shannon Sharpe injected new energy into the position in the ‘90s and showed the world that it can be fun to play as a tight end.

The emergence of a new generation of TEs like Kittle and Kelce brought increased admiration. Teams realized the importance of a big guy willing to do the dirty work so that the receivers can only focus on juking defenders and scoring the touchdowns. And now they are some of the highest-paid athletes around.

Kittle sat down with former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky in Nashville and talked about how the tight ends have contributed to Super Bowl wins.

If you look at the past 10 Super Bowl winners, every team has either a [Rob] Gronk, a Kelce, or Dallas Goedert;you have an elite tight end playing that makes plays for you throughout the season, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl. You have guys that make plays. Guys saw Gronk and the Patriots winning all those championships—we need to invest a little more time in these tight ends and maybe give them some more ops… Now you see all these TEs—the Ravens have a great TE room… You build in this room with these tight ends.

George Kittle said

George Kittle wants tight ends to get paid more

Kittle signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020. He repaid the Niners by claiming six Pro Bowl appearances. They recently made Kittle the highest-paid tight end ever with a four-year, $76.4 million extension.

George Kittle Explains Why Tight End is No Longer an Overlooked Position in Football: "Offenses Have Seen Success"
George Kittle (Image via IMAGO)

The former fifth-rounder was jubilant to sign the new deal, which will pay him $19.1 million per year. However, at the same time, Kittle asserted that he wants to see more tight ends earn money like him.

The only way for the tight end market to continue to grow is if everybody’s getting paid. That’s the only way to do it. You can’t just have one guy do it and then it just sits for four years, because then you’re stuck, and it’s stagnant with no one getting paid. We want everybody.

George Kittle said while speaking with Dan Patrick on his show (H/T: NBC Sports)

Kittle was on fire even though the 49ers were a leaking ship in 2024. The 31-year-old caught 78 passes for 1106 yards and 8 touchdowns.

The Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride overtook Kelce to become the second-highest-paid tight end with a $19 million per year extension, while the Chiefs star earns $17.1 million.

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