NFL free agency 2026 player rankings: Best tight end available

The new league year is nearly upon us, and with it comes free agency. Fans of every team except the Seahawks and Patriots are now focused on the offseason and what their favorite team’s roster will look like when the 2026 season starts and which new faces might be on the field in September.

If your team is in the market for a tight end, will be plenty of options on the market for all kind of needs. Want the latest breakout star? Kyle Pitts is ready for a new contract. Need a young player with upside? Isaiah Likely may be the player for you. Looking for a grizzled veteran who still has it? Dallas Goedert may be just want you’re looking for.

With all of that said, here are this year’s best free agent tight ends.

1.) Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

2025 Stats: 17 games played (17 starts), 88 reception for 928 receivingyards (10.5 YPR), five receiving touchdowns

Only still 25 years old, Pitts put together the best overall season of his career in 2025. He caught a career high 88 receptions for 928 yards (second best of career) and five scores, which were also a career high. To top it all off, his catch rate was 74.6 percent. That is 11.1 percent higher than his previous mark set in 2024 (63.5).

After the year he had, it would be shocking if Pitts ended up anywhere else but Atlanta, especially given that Atlanta’s new head coach is Kevin Stefanski who had success using David Njoku and Harold Fannin in the Browns offense this past season.

2.) Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens

2025 Stats: 14 games played (7 starts), 27 receptions for 307 receiving yards (11.4 YPR), 1 receiving touchdown, 2 fumbles

The Ravens signed starting tight end Mark Andrews to a three-year contract extension in December and it’s highly unlikely (sort’ve pun intended) they sign Likely to a new deal to continue being his backup. Despite being productive as the team’s TE2, Likely has shown flashes of what he could be as a team’s starter in an offense that values a modern F tight end.

Following John Harbaugh to the Giants is not likely due to New York having a decent duo in Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger. Still, there should be plenty of suitors for the young playmaker who are in need of an offensive mismatch at the first and second levels of the field.

3.) Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

2025 Stats: 15 games played (15 starts), 60 receptions for 591 receiving yards (9.9 YPR), 11 receiving touchdowns

Goedert will be 31 during the 2026 season and he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in recent years, other than missing seven games in 2024. I’d be shocked if he ends up singing elsewhere over returning to the Eagles, but this veteran still has a ton left in the tank to give to whoever needs it.

Philly quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for a career high 25 touchdowns to go with 3,224 passing yards. A big reason Hurts was able to break his previous high 23 passing scores was Goedert’s propensity for finding the end zone which he did 11 times, blowing past his personal career high of five which he set way back in 2019.

4.) David Njoku, Cleveland Browns

2025 Stats: 12 games played (11 starts), 33 receptions for 293 receiving yards (8.9 YPR), 4 receiving touchdowns

Njoku missed some time in 2025 with an injury that limited him to 111 starts in 12 games played. He finished the year with 293 yards and four scores, the yardage being his lowest output since the 2020 season (213). Some of this was the quarterback situation, but the other was the emergence of rookie Harold Fannin Jr. (72 receptions, 731 yards).

Prior to the 2025 season, Njoku had put together a two-year stretch from 2023-2024 that included 145 catches, 1387 yards, and 11 touchdowns. While the 2026 campaign will be his age-30 season, Njoku is still deserving of being a contributor for a team, it just more likely may come as the backup for an offense that likes to trot out multiple TEs at a high clip.

5.) Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders

2025 Stats: 13 games played (13 starts), 50 receptions for 504 receiving yards (10.1 YPR), 4 receiving touchdowns, 1 fumble

Ertz started 13 games for the Commanders before suffering a season-ending injury for the second time in the past three seasons. He still collected 50 receptions for 504 yards and four touchdowns which was just about the same pace as his 66-654-7 stat line he put up in 17 games during the 2024 campaign. It remains to be seen how he will return from his injury, but with his style of play, his suitors will be few and I fully expect him to return to Washington on a team-friendly deal if he chooses to continue playing.

6.) Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

2025 Stats: 12 games played (11 starts), 24 receptions for 283 receiving yards (11.8 YPR), six receiving touchdowns

Waller came out of retirement to play in nine games with three starts for the Dolphins in 2025. He caught just 24 passes for 283 yards, but he found the end zone six times which shows he’s still a mismatch in the red zone. That’s a very good place to show you can still win for a veteran and should get him a job if he doesn’t go right back into retirement this offseason. 

7.) Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams

2025 Stats: 10 games played (8 starts), 25 receptions for 281 receiving yards (11.2 YPR), 3 receiving touchdowns

Higbee had one of his quieter years with the Rams in 2025 and a lot of that had to do with there being a number of other playmakers on the team at receiver and running back. He finished the 2025 season with 25 catches for 281 yards and three touchdowns, but was also a very respectable run blocker. He posted a 69.7 run block grade by Pro Football Focus this year, good for 13th among all TEs with 150 or more run block snaps.

The long-time Rams veteran can still be a serviceable tight end as a co-starter or backup who will give any offense a boost in the run game.

8.) Noah Fant

2025 Stats: 15 games played (7 starts), 34 receptions for 288 receiving yards (8.5 YPR), 3 receiving touchdowns, 3 fumbles

Fant paired with Mike Gesicki as the Bengals TE duo during the 2025 season. Fant caught more passes (34 to 28) and touchdowns (3 to 2) but Gesicki came away with more yards (288 to 307). Since entering the NFL in 2019 as a first-round pick, Fant hasn’t been as sensational at finding the end zone like he did at Iowa but he’s averaged a respectable 555 receiving yards per season and a little under three touchdowns.

He’ll be 29 years old next season and can still give a team some juice at an important position, but a co-starter/TE2 is seemingly his ceiling at this point.

9.) Austin Hooper

2025 Stats: 16 games played (6 starts), 21 receptions for 263 receiving yards (12.5 YPR), 2 receiving touchdowns

Hooper played second fiddle in 2025 to Patriots starter Hunter Henry while finishing with 21 catches for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Like a lot of the notable tight ends hitting free agency this offseason, most of them are veterans that are medium-floor, low ceiling players best suited for a specific role in your team’s offense.

If a team needs a starter in a pinch, they could do much worse than Hooper who has been in the league a decade now. He’s solid, but hasn’t had a season with over 500 receiving yards since 2019.

10.) Durham Smythe

2025 Stats: 17 games played (2 starts), 4 receptions for 25 receiving yards (6.3 YPR)

Smythe makes this list mainly on his ability to be a team’s H-back, filling the role of both a connected tight end or a fullback in the backfield. The 30-year old only caught four passes for 25 yards in 2025 but that wasn’t all he was able to contribute to a Bears team that not only made the playoffs but got to the divisional round. Smythe won’t likely sign anywhere for much above the veteran minimum, but he’ll be coveted by a team who wants an experienced tight end room from top to bottom.