Kurtenbach: The NFL always gets even. The 49ers will pay the toll in 2026

In the NFL, the bill always comes due. Last year, the San Francisco 49ers were handed a travel schedule so soft you could practically sleep on it.

In 2026? The league is sending them on a forced march across the globe.

The massive geographical advantage the Niners enjoyed in 2025 is dead, and plans are being drawn on how to dump it into the Pacific Ocean during the team’s 16-hour flight come the fall.

Last season, the schedule-makers blessed San Francisco. Sure, the actual strength of schedule ultimately leveled out to the league average, but overall, it was entirely manageable.

Now comes the payback. The NFL giveth, and the NFL booketh you gigs in three different countries.

The league always gets even.

And it all starts with Week 1: Australia.

Just reading that makes my hamstrings tighten. The Niners are expected to open their 2026 campaign essentially on the dark side of the moon. And as ESPN’s Nick Wagoner astutely pointed out on X (The Everything App, of course), the opponent makes the whole charade sting even more: the Los Angeles Rams.

Instead of their annual, easy-breezy one-hour commuter hop from SJC down to LAX — a trip so short the flight attendants often don’t even bother with beverage service — the Niners are burning an “easy” road game to fly to the Southern Hemisphere.

That trip will put them on the physical back foot for weeks. You can expect an early bye week to compensate — it’ll probably be Week 5 — but jet lag that deep doesn’t just wash off in the cold tub.

Then there’s the back half of the gauntlet, which will be played unabated because of that likely early bye.

Instead of a comfortable Sunday afternoon playing in Santa Clara, the 49ers will sacrifice a home game to play in Mexico City this season. Great for business. Bad for the lungs.

They’re trading sea level for Estadio Azteca, sitting at 7,218 feet of elevation.

Toss in the smog, the noise, and the pomp and circumstance of another international spectacle, and it’s one more massive physical hurdle dumped right in the middle of what should be a playoff push.

Do the math. Tally the frequent flyer miles. Factor in the time zones. Surely, no one will travel more in the 2026 season than San Francisco. Front Office Sports estimates they’ll travel roughly 38,000 round-trip miles – the most by an NFL team ever.

The Niners aren’t just a football team anymore; they’re a touring stadium act. This is Roger Goodell’s dream. If only he could get an 18th regular-season game on the Moon.

Oh, and while we’re in a position to take more bad news: don’t be shocked if the Niners are picked to participate in the Hall of Fame preseason opener in Canton, Ohio, this August, too.

Of course, a tougher travel itinerary is no guarantee of failure.

But if things do go sideways? If the injuries mount, the legs look heavy, and the fourth-quarter leads start evaporating? It gives everyone a brand new boogeyman.

A malfunctioning electrical substation? Please. That was so last year. When the 2026 excuses start rolling in, we won’t be talking about EMF. No, we’re going to be deep into the realm of quackery regarding circadian rhythm disruption, localized gravity changes, and the cumulative radiation exposure from air travel.

But the NFL is a league of ruthless parity. If you get an edge one year, someone sitting in a Park Avenue office finds a way to claw it back the next.

The Niners had their staycation. Now, they’re paying the toll.

John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan better bolster their ranks accordingly in the coming months.

They’re going to need fresh legs, incredible depth, and a whole lot of passport pages.