2024 NFL Free Agent Rankings: Tight Ends

Highlights

• The tight end class during 2024 NFL free agency isn’t as star-studded as other position groups, like wide receiver and defensive end.
• A number of the best available tight ends experienced down years in 2023, giving teams an increased chance at a value signing.
• GIVEMESPORT presents its top 10 free agent tight ends.

The tight end revolution is upon us.

For years, the NFL’s tight end landscape was dominated by a handful of the same players. You know the ones: Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski in a tier of their own, followed by the likes of George Kittle, Zach Ertz, and Mark Andrews, among others.

But the shift in offensive philosophy over the past decade has finally led to more consistent contributors in passing attacks across the league.

None of the impending free agent tight ends will be mistaken for one of the league’s absolute best, but there are some solid players in this class who could serve as a quality security blanket, chain-mover, and/or red-zone threat for any of a dozen organizations.

You’ll find GIVEMESPORT’s top 10 free agent tight ends in 2024 NFL free agency below.

Don’t forget to check out GIVEMESPORT’s NFL Free Agency hub for all of your NFL offseason updates.

10 Irv Smith Jr.

Can he resuscitate his once promising outlook?

Not every position group is as deep as wide receiver or defensive end, but at 25 years old, Smith still offers a little bit of intrigue as a possible lottery ticket for some needy team.

He has been unable to find a foothold in the league since suffering a torn meniscus ahead of his anticipated 2021 breakout campaign as the Minnesota Vikings’ replacement for longtime veteran Kyle Rudolph.

A high ankle sprain in 2022 that led Minnesota to acquire T.J. Hockenson didn’t help matters either. He has set a career-low in average depth of target (ADOT) in back-to-back years.

The Cincinnati Bengals brought him in to fill the void left by Hayden Hurst, but he was unable to find success with Joe Burrow or Jake Browning and was a healthy scratch in two of the regular season’s final three weeks. Smith is destined to take another low-value, one-year contract – likely as a backup – in an effort to resurrect his value and save his career.

9 Austin Hooper

The quintessential bridge player

The back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances Hooper made with the Atlanta Falcons are a distant memory, but he is the perfect mentor for young, up-and-coming prospects at the position.

He helped Chigoziem Okonkwo transition to the NFL as a member of the Tennessee Titans in 2022 and did the same for Michael Mayer of the Las Vegas Raiders last season.

In a pinch, Hooper can still function as a serviceable passing weapon. But at this point, he is better suited for a reserve role. Any organization intent on developing a prospect – such as Brock Bowers, Ja’Tavion Sanders, or Cade Stover in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft – that needs a pro for them to learn the ins and outs of the league from would be wise to give him a call.

8 Mike Gesicki

Is there an organization that will use him?

Gesicki had a franchise tag of nearly $11 million placed upon him by the Miami Dolphins after the 2021 season. Since then, he has seen a drastic drop-off in production, failing to match those numbers across the two following combined campaigns.

His 244 yards and 8.4 yards per reception in 2023 were his lowest single-season total since his rookie year.

Gesicki was phased out of Mike McDaniel’s offense and garnered minimal usage in his lone year with the New England Patriots because he is not a good blocker. At 6-foot-6, he offers immense upside in the red zone, which he displays when he gets on the field.

A team lacking a big-bodied target – or losing one, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be – could snare him on a one-year deal and capitalize on his ability inside the 20-yard line, but his lack of blocking chops will always limit his number of fits.

7 Tanner Hudson

Can he replicate his end-of-year success?

Hudson didn’t earn a consistent role with the Bengals until Week 9, but received four or more targets in seven of ten weeks to end the year and topped 40 yards in three different games. He stepped up in a big way for a Cincinnati team that went weeks without Tee Higgins and did not get the expected contribution from Irv Smith Jr.

Hudson, a fifth-year pro, is a restricted free agent; the Bengals, who have all four tight ends headed to free agency, should have a reasonably easy time keeping him if they so choose. He flew a bit under the radar, meaning they could potentially get away with putting a “Right of First Refusal” tender on him (worth approximately $2.8 million).

Hudson’s 199 career receiving yards prior to 2023 will likely turn any outside suitors away from offering a substantial raise upon that figure, but if Cincinnati decides to go through a complete makeover of the position group, whichever team lures him in will be very fortunate.

6 Adam Trautman

An apple of Sean Payton’s eye

The second-to-last pick of the third round in the 2020 NFL Draft, Trautman spent three years in the Bayou with the New Orleans Saints before being sent to the Denver Broncos in a 2023 draft-day trade. Sean Payton selected Trautman as his starter over promising 2022 rookie Greg Dulcich, who missed all but two contests due to hamstring injuries.

Despite the lack of competition for his spot, Trautman failed to make a consistent receiving impact and did not catch more than two passes in a game after Week 5.

Trautman’s level of intrigue to franchises without Payton is unclear, but Spotrac’s projected market value for him is at $3.7 million annually. Whoever signs him will be confident in knowing what they’re getting, making him a high-floor, low-ceiling addition who will contribute as a run blocker.

5 Colby Parkinson

A solid combination of receiving skill and blocking prowess

Parkinson has recorded the same number of targets, receptions, and touchdowns each of the last two years but tallied three fewer yards per reception in 2023. An ADOT 1.7 yards closer to the line of scrimmage, caused by greater inefficiency in the Seattle Seahawks passing attack, is the main culprit for the lesser production.

​​​​​​​What aids Parkinson’s $6.6 million Spotrac valuation is his efficiency as a blocker. He ranked 11th out of 52 qualified players in Pro Football Focus‘ overall blocking grade in 2022 and had PFF’s 7th-best run blocking grade among tight ends a season ago.

Nick Boyle, who posted similar receiving numbers and earned immense praise for his blocking during his Baltimore Ravens’ tenure, agreed to contracts averaging $6 million and $6.5 million annually in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Parkinson functioning as Boyle in new Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s scheme makes too much sense.

4 Gerald Everett

An established receiving threat

Everett failed to match the career-high marks he set alongside Justin Herbert in 2022 this past season, with some of the regression due to Herbert’s various injuries. He averaged a career-low yards per reception total (8.1) and ADOT (4.0) but still surpassed 400 yards for the fifth consecutive year and topped 50 receptions for the second straight campaign.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old can still make an impact on a high-quality offense. The Chargers’ potential infatuation with Bowers at No. 5 overall would seemingly relegate him to a reserve spot, though, leading many to believe he’ll be donning a fourth uniform in 2024.

3 Hunter Henry

The lean, mean scoring machine

Henry’s chances of living up to the three-year, $37.5 million contract he inked with the Patriots in 2021 dimmed rapidly after Josh McDaniels left the team in offensive coordinator purgatory. Even with his side of the ball in complete flux for the past two seasons, he found a way to produce respectable totals.

Whichever team Henry joins is in great shape to get better results from him in 2024. In each of his three seasons before McDaniels’ departure, he eclipsed 50 catches and 600 yards while scoring 18 combined touchdowns.

Watch for the Bengals to be involved with Henry, Everett, or one of the following two tight ends on this list. Cincinnati has $61 million in cap space ahead of Joe Burrow’s contract extension hitting the books in 2025. A hefty one-year deal, or a two-year pact with a large guarantee in year one, would help them maximize Burrow’s return from a wrist injury.

2 Noah Fant

The highest ceiling in the class

Fant’s budding stardom dimmed once he was shipped from Denver to Seattle as part of the return package for Russell Wilson.

Working in a three-man rotation with the aforementioned Parkinson and Will Dissly in 2023, he saw a career-worst 55% snap share and ended the year with career-lows in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. He also did not score a touchdown for the first time in his career.

In his final two seasons as a Bronco, Fant caught 130 passes for 1,343 yards and seven touchdowns. He still possesses the speed and agility to be the matchup nightmare many projected him to be when he entered the league; he just needs to find an offense that will utilize his natural gifts more than the Seahawks did.

At only 26 years old, he’d fit with rebuilding teams, contenders, and anyone in between.

1 Dalton Schultz

Will he reunite with C.J. Stroud?

By functioning as C.J. Stroud’s security blanket, Schultz served the exact purpose the Houston Texans envisioned when signing him to a one-year, $6.25 million contract last offseason.

​​​​​​​Now that Stroud has finished perhaps the best rookie quarterbacking campaign of all time, he and head coach DeMeco Ryans are looking to leap into true contender status in their second season together. Re-signing Schultz as part of that push would presumably make a ton of sense.

However, Schultz is far and away the most proven tight end on the market and never got his big payday after being franchise-tagged by the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. He, rightfully, wants to maximize his earning potential and at least come close to achieving Spotrac’s $11.3 million market value projection. The best way to do so is to reach the open market, where he’ll have plenty of suitors.

The Texans have more than $54.5 million in cap space with Stroud on only year two of his rookie deal, so they could afford to keep Schultz in town and prevent him from heading elsewhere in the event he does enter free agency.

​​​​​​​But they may not believe he’s worth entering a large bidding war over. Schultz may think his best chance at winning a Super Bowl while getting paid is outside of Houston. Only time will tell.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.