49ers (almost) lead NFL in total miles to travel in 2023

The 49ers aren't quite at the top of most travel miles in 2023, but they're expectedly close... again.

The San Francisco 49ers have to be receiving some awfully good perks and frequent flier mileage for all the traveling they do.

And, heading into the 2023 season, they'll be doing much more of it again.

The 2023 NFL schedule is set to be released soon, and while we don't know quite yet when the Niners will be playing games -- that news will go official on Thursday, May 11 at 8 p.m. ET -- we do know which opponents they'll have this season.

You can check out the full list of teams on San Francisco's regular-season schedule here.

As a recap, the 49ers will play their normal two-apiece games against each team within the NFC West, but they'll also square off against both the NFC East and AFC South, meaning there are some trips on the docket to the Eastern Time Zone. One of those games, on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, is clear across the country in Florida.

And there are also rumors of a Week 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly, which will be a rematch of last January's NFC Championship game.

Needless to say, the 49ers are going to be flying a lot. Not quite the most in the NFL this season.

But, still. A lot.

49ers will travel 2nd most miles of any team in NFL during 2023 season

A day before the 2023 NFL schedule release, ESPN's Adam Schefter shared a chart by the Boston Herald's Bill Speros, also compiling the information for Bookies.com, that broke down each team's travel mileage for the upcoming season.

While the Niners weren't atop that list, they were awfully close at No. 2 with a whopping 29,958 miles traveled over 36 time-zone changes:

Only San Francisco's NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks, had more mileage at 31,600.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals (11,942) and Green Bay Packers (11,956) are almost identical in fewest miles to be traveled, and it's certainly enviable for some teams to wish they had it that easy.

West Coast teams, such as San Francisco and Seattle, typically find themselves in the top five of this category on a yearly basis. So would the Los Angeles Rams, and to a slightly lesser extent, the Arizona Cardinals. AFC West teams, particularly the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, often have to travel great distances, too.

It's just the nature of the NFL's geography.

On a side note, the 49ers have made a habit of staying on the East Coast when they have back-to-back weeks of travel to at least the central time zone and almost always for consecutive road games in the Eastern Time Zone.

Last year, they spent time at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia between Weeks 5 and 6 when they visited the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, respectively.

Thursday night's schedule release will likely indicate whether or not the Niners will do something again this season to save on some of that mileage to be traveled.