NFL Free Agency is days away. Let’s dive into this year’s class of NFL Free Agents as well as their fantasy football outlook.

• Erickson’s Free Agency Primers: QB | RB | WR
• NFL Free Agent & Draft Needs for Every Team
• 2024 NFL Draft Guide
• 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit

2024 NFL Tight End Free Agency Primer

Hunter Henry

Get this man reunited with Shane Steichen in Indianapolis from their days spent in San Diego. Third-year tight end Jelani Woods can’t be relied on after missing all of 2023, and the Colts don’t have another difference maker at tight end on the roster. That was so apparent last year when they would split tight-end snaps between three and even four tight ends at times.

Mo Alie-Cox can be cut for a zero dead cap hit with a potential “out” in his 2024 contract.

Hunter Henry provides Anthony Richardson with a big red-zone target, which is by far Henry’s biggest asset to an offense. During his three seasons spent in New England, Henry finished no worse than TE22 (2022), averaging nearly 6 TD receptions per season. The red-zone weapon finished this past season as the TE18 overall, tying for second in red-zone TD receptions (6). Henry was PFF’s 14th-highest-graded tight end in 2023.

Noah Fant

Before the 2023 season, Noah Fant had finished no worse than TE17 any year of his career. Coming off zero TDs with horrible usage in a three-way committee deployed by the Seahawks’ previous regime, the uber-athletic tight end needs a fresh start somewhere at just 26 years old.

Still ranked 7th among all tight ends in yards after the catch per reception in 2023 (5.7).

The Panthers could be a potential landing spot for Fant given the new head coach, Dave Canales, has ties to Seattle’s offensive personnel. Hayden Hurst signed a lucrative deal with the Panthers last offseason but landed on IR after suffering from Post-Traumatic Amnesia. The team can also cut ties with Ian Thomas to save close to $3 million in salary cap space.

The Panthers could be a very sneaky landing spot for a tight end – given that Canales “awarded” Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton an elite role. Played nearly every single snap and ran a route on 80% of the dropbacks (3rd among TEs).

It’s “easy” to tie Fant to the Bears under new OC Shane Waldron (formerly of Seattle), but this doesn’t make sense to me, given how poorly Fant’s numbers suffered after arriving with the Seahawks. He was much more productive in Denver during the start of his career.

Gerald Everett

If any tight end were to reunite with Shane Waldron, it could be Everett after their time spent together in Los Angeles (Rams) and Seattle.

Last season, the tight end usage never got to a point with the Chargers where Gerald Everett could fully be unleashed, aside from occasional spiked weeks of production when other guys missed time. Everett was by far Easton Stick‘s No. 1 target after Justin Herbert went down with an injury. But he never had one game with 50 or more receiving yards. Logged a 55% snap rate on the year (33rd). Everett will be 30 in 2024 after posting career lows in yards and yards per route run as the TE24 overall and TE21 in points per game (5.7). He was the TE15 overall and TE14 in points per game in 2022 (7.4).

Everett could also reunite with the LA Rams and Sean McVay with Tyler Higbee coming off a very late torn ACL injury. The Rams tight end role is very advantageous, given that Higbee finished the 2023 season with the 8th-highest routes run rate at 73%.

Mike Gesicki

It’s been back-to-back seasons where Mike Gesicki has just not “fit” the offensive system that he has been put in. He’s a tight end who doesn’t block and needs a team that will embrace that part of his game.

If put in a position as a hybrid slot receiver, the 28-year-old can be productive. He has shown that while playing in the NFL.

In 2021, Gesicki finished sixth in receptions, ninth in receiving yards, fourth in route participation (78%), and fifth in target share (17%) over 18 weeks. These impressive numbers translated to a TE9 finish (TE8 Weeks 1-17) in PPR (TE11 in half-PPR).

The fact that he already has multiple TE1 finishes on his resume (TE7 in 2020, TE11 in 2019) bolsters the case for Gesicki to be capable of bouncing back, if he can land on the right team.

A team to monitor for a tight end landing is the Tennessee Titans. Nick Holz is coming in as the OC after spending last season as the passing game coordinator for the Jaguars. The same offense that fueled Evan Engram to 114 catches for 963 yards on 140-plus targets as a featured slot receiver. The “role” he had in the Jaguars offense was beyond elite, ranking first in the NFL in route participation (83%).

More NFL Free Agency Coverage

• Top 3 NFL Free Agency Predictions
• Most Important Players of the Offseason
• 3 Ideal NFL Free Agency Landing Spots
• 6 Bold Predictions for 2024 NFL Free Agency
• Top 20 NFL Free Agents
• Top 10 NFL Free Agent Running Backs
• Top 10 NFL Free Agent Wide Receivers
• Top 10 NFL Free Agent Quarterbacks & Tight Ends
• 8 NFL Head Coaching Changes & Fantasy Impact
• 13 NFL Coordinator Changes & Fantasy Impact

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