The New Reality No. 229: 2025 Free Agent TEs

From dynasty team-building and player evaluations to NFL research and forecasting, Chad Parsons covers dynasty fantasy football's landscape in The New Reality.

Chad Parsons's The New Reality No. 229: 2025 Free Agent TEs Chad Parsons Published 12/03/2024

As a whole, the 2025 NFL free-agent class has big names at the skill positions. Here is a look at the potential tight ends on the move and the dynasty impact of their free-agent status.

The tight end class is notably weak compared to wide receiver and running back. The best contract given if all of the below are true free agents might be a two-year construction with only the first season essentially guaranteed. The good news is the projected 2025 rookie class of tight ends is on the bullish side (except without a Brock Bowers prospect).

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Current 2025 Free Agent TEs: Tier 1A

Mike Gesicki is the best combination of age and profile. However, Gesicki is coming off a one-year prove-it deal with Cincinnati that ultimately has not resurrected his career arc. Gesicki's combination of 1.51 yards-per-route run (YPRR) and 18% target-per-route-run (TPRR) are respectable but hardly inspiring. This is without much WR3 impact on the roster (Andrei Iosivas is averaging a meager 0.78 YPRR), and Cincinnati is one of the better passing games in the NFL. Gesicki is not a full-time player (24 routes per game) and is essentially a big slot. In short, Gesicki largely had his best shot to revive his career in 2024 and fell flat.

Current 2025 Free Agent TEs: Tier 1B

Some NFL could consider Zach Ertz as the TE1 of the free agent class, considering his 501 yards and four touchdowns through Week 13. His age is a significant detractor at 34 years old both for NFL and dynasty purposes. Also, Ben Sinnott has largely been on ice as a rookie despite Round 2 pedigree and flashing a few times in sporadic playing time. As expected, Ertz is one of the lowest after-the-catch tight ends in the NFL and, at best, is a late-career Jason Witten type to aggregate his way to a low-TE1 fantasy season if the full-time starter.

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