George Kittle wants Tight End U to help tight ends get better, and get paid

The annual Tight End University forum for NFL tight ends is happening again this summer, and one of its founders, George Kittle, says his goal is to make every tight end in the league better — and wealthier.

Kittle told Dan Patrick that when he, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen founded Tight End U, they wanted to get as many NFL tight ends together as they possibly could, to give all of them a setting to make each other better.

“If you’re on an NFL roster or were in the last year, you’re invited,” Kittle said. “I talk about run blocking, pass protection, YAC. Those are things I focus on. Travis talks about his route tree, how he reads his coverages, Greg Olsen talks about his routes. Jordan Reed has spoken about his releases. This year Evan Engram is going to talk.”

Kittle believes the needs of tight ends are unique and that it’s good for all of the to help each other.

“We try to talk about all the things a tight end does because we’re the only position that gets to do everything: Pass pro, run blocking, catching the football, scoring touchdowns, running the ball sometimes, so we kind of try to cover as much as we can in the limited time we have with these guys and just give them a step forward in their careers to help them make a team in the upcoming camp,” Kittle said.

So why would Kittle want to help tight ends on opposing teams? He says it’s all about making the position better and ultimately getting bigger contracts for tight ends across the NFL.

“The only way for the tight end market to continue to grow is if everybody’s getting paid,” Kittle said. “That’s the only way to do it. You can’t just have one guy do it and then it just sits for three or four years because then you’re stuck and it’s stagnant and no one’s getting paid. We want everybody, I want everybody to have great seasons. I want everybody to have great games, just not against the 49ers. But throughout the rest of the season, they can play as well as they want to because I want guys to get paid, to keep bumping up that market so by the time that Brock Bowers is doing his contract in three years, he’s going for over $20 million, which he will. That’s just the whole point. When Tight End U first started, I think the top of the market was $15 [million] and now it’s $20 [million].”

Kittle signed a four-year, $76 million contract extension this offseason, and that might be the last lucrative contract extension he signs in the NFL. But some day when a tight end is signing a $30 million a year contract, he may have Kittle to thank for raising the profile of the position, and raising the salaries of the position.

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