Commanders Free Agent Fits: Tight End

Taking a look at some tight ends that the Washington Commanders could potentially target in free agency

It’s going to be very interesting to see what the Commanders do at the tight end position this offseason. Zach Ertz has been the unquestioned starter since Adam Peters and Dan Quinn came to Washington, but Ertz joined because of Kliff Kingsbury and Kingsbury is no longer here. He also suffered a severe knee injury and may well end up retiring. But his connection with Jayden Daniels was undeniable and that will need to be replaced in some way.

There’s no obvious option for that on the current roster. John Bates is a fantastic blocking tight end but he’s more of a specialist blocker at this stage in his career. Ben Sinnott is unproven at this point and has been lacking opportunities since he was drafted in the second round back in 2024. While both have roles on this team in 2026, neither can replicate what Ertz brought to the offense. So the Commanders are going to need to find someone that can either replicate it, or add a new dynamic to the offense from the tight end position. Fortunately, it’s shaping up to be a strong class of free agent tight ends, so here are some options the Commanders could consider.

High Profile: Kyle Pitts, Falcons, 25

While Travis Kelce is the highest profile free agent tight end this offseason, I think it’s widely believed he will either be back with the Chiefs or retire. So in terms of high profile tight ends that will actually be available, Kyle Pitts tops the list. Pitts hasn’t quite lived up to expectations since being drafted fourth overall by the Falcons back in 2021. He’s been pretty productive but he was expected to be the next Rob Gronkowski, which certainly hasn’t been the case as of yet.

The Falcons tried to use him too much as a pure X receiver, where he matched up against cornerbacks that could cover him. This past season he was more of a traditional tight end and saw his production jump back up. I don’t think he’s as well-rounded as you would have hoped from the fourth overall pick, but I think he can win in ways that a lot of other tight ends can’t. For example, he’s still an exceptional athlete, especially linearly. On the field, that means he is a real vertical threat from the tight end position.

On this play against the Seahawks, Pitts lines up in a stacked set to the right of the formation. Opposite him is Nick Emmanwori, one of the best athletes at safety in the entire NFL. Pitts runs a deep corner route against Emmanwori, taking an inside release at the snap and using his hands to knock down Emmanwori’s attempt at jamming him. Pitts gets a step on him and then breaks out towards the sideline on a 45 degree angle. Emmanwori battles to stay with him, fighting with his hands to try and keep close, but Pitts keeps his lead and turns his head to track the ball. It drops in over his shoulder and Pitts makes an excellent hands catch away from his body as he dives at full stretch to secure the pass.

Not many tight ends could have gotten a step on Emmanwori and maintained it down the field. Pitts is rare in that regard, which makes him an enticing prospect and is a large part of what got him drafted so high in the first place. The Falcons made a mistake using him more as an X receiver because he’d face corners that could match up against him in coverage. But at tight end, he faces safeties and it’s much harder for a safety to stick with him down the field.

Here’s another example of Pitts winning down the field against a safety. This time, Pitts runs an out-and-up double move against the Buccaneers, who try and match up on him with a safety. Pitts releases slow off the snap, getting into the trail of the outside receiver, creating traffic for the safety in coverage. Pitts then breaks out towards the sideline, selling a quick out route. The safety begins to drive on the out route, which opens up a path inside. Pitts suddenly makes a second cut, this time getting vertical and he bursts away from the safety down the field. He creates five yards of separation and is found easily down the field by the quarterback. Only the deep safety is able to come over and save his teammate by making the tackle and saving what could have been a touchdown.

I think this is what Pitts does best now. I don’t think he’s an excellent route runner and I don’t see a ton of consistent quickness from his short or intermediate routes which would make him a real threat on quick hitters like slants and choice routes. I think he’s a more linear athlete, which means he’s more effective working vertically. That can be a huge weapon from the tight end position when used correctly because not many safeties or linebackers can match up with his athletic ability down the field.

For the Commanders, he wouldn’t be a direct Ertz replacement because Ertz was much more about short and intermediate routes, finding holes in zones and making himself available to the quarterback. But the Commanders are making changes to their offense under David Blough, so he could shift how they use tight ends within this offense to be more vertical threats, which would suit both Pitts and Ben Sinnott.

In terms of blocking, PItts isn’t anywhere close to John Bates as a run blocker but he can hold up ok depending on the scheme. The Falcons often left him on the back side of a zone scheme run, where he just had to cut off the back side edge defender and he was capable of doing that. I’m not sure he’ll ever become someone that can be trusted to be a traditional inline Y tight end that blocks a defensive end one-on-one in the run game, like Bates is. But that’s fine, not a lot of guys are like that now and there are ways to scheme around that, especially in 12 personnel where they could get Bates on the field with him to do the dirty work.

Pitts is the biggest name and at 25, his best years are still ahead of him. That means he’ll likely be quite costly, but the Commanders do have plenty of cap room to work with and could use with getting a younger weapon for Jayden Daniels. If they were to splash out on an offense weapon, Pitts could make sense for Washington.

Good Value: Isaiah Likely, Ravens, 25

Likely is somewhat similar in profile to Pitts in that he’s more of a receiving tight end than a blocker, but he’s quite different in the way he wins. While Pitts is more linear and more of a vertical threat, Likely is more shifty. He shows the ability to work in and out of breaks sharply, making him a threat on underneath and intermediate routes. He’s more of what would be known as an “F” or “Joker” tight end that can move around the formation and often line up in the slot. From there, he can win quickly underneath and provide the quarterback early outlets.

Here we see Likely lined up in the slot to the right of the formation. Likely runs a pivot route where he initially breaks outside like he’s running a stick route before suddenly pivoting back inside towards the middle of the field. At the snap, you can see the defender in coverage widens with Likely’s break outside, which leaves him vulnerable to the pivot. Likely makes a nice move to cut back inside, creating separation from his defender. Unfortunately, the Bengals have a plug player inside and the linebacker is there to cut off the quick throw to Likely.

However, Likely doesn’t give up on the play. He feels that plug player inside and adjusts his path to work behind that defender. Once behind him, Likely knows the defender can no longer track him, leaving him free to find space and get open. He can see that his quarterback is feeling some pressure and climbing the pocket, so he keeps on running into the open space to make himself available. The quarterback finds him and Likely does a nice job turning back to secure a pass that is slightly behind him.

From there he takes off down the field and goes 40+ yards down the field. Unfortunately, right as he reaches the goal line, Likely attempts to jump over the deep safety. As he does that, the trailing defender catches up and manages to knock the ball loose from him. Likely losses control of the ball before crossing the goalline and the ball ends up rolling out the back of the end zone, which is rule a turnover and a touchback.

It’s a killer mistake and a particularly harsh lesson for Likely. Ball security is always the most important thing for a ball carrier. Leaping over a defender will naturally cause your arms to go away from your body, so it’s hard to maintain perfect ball security in those types of moments. But that’s exactly what defenders are trained to look for to try and punch the ball out.

Despite that though, it was a nice play from Likely that showed a lot of what he’s about. He’s lined up in the slot and runs a nice quick hitter with the pivot route, changing direction sharply to create separation and win quickly underneath. The ability to then recognize the plugging defender and adjust his path to make himself available for his quarterback is another big tick in his box.

While Likely is more of a consistent threat underneath, he still offers a vertical threat too.