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Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kyle Pitts.
You don’t have to be an orthopedic surgeon to understand the knee injury suffered by Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz in a Week 14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings was catastrophic.
It’s hard to imagine Ertz, 35 years old, not needing a full calendar year to recover from a torn ACL, and that’s assuming he still even wants to keep playing football.
That means the Commanders need a new tight end, and considering how much quarterback Jayden Daniels utilized Ertz in his first 2 seasons, they’re going to need someone ready to become a focal point of the offense from Day 1.
Pro Football Focus singled out Atlanta Falcons free agent tight end Kyle Pitts as the player the Commanders need to focus all their energy on, and with $51 million in salary cap space available before any roster moves that’s very much in play.
“The Commanders seek a rebound from an uninspiring 2025 campaign, part of which was due to injury,” PFF’s Bradley Locker wrote. “Although Washington’s defense was yet again among the league’s worst, the team could also upgrade its skill-position options. Pitts looked his best since 2021 with an 82.0 PFF receiving grade, 1.71 yards per route run and 51 first downs gained. The former fourth overall pick could find a landing spot in Washington: Zach Ertz’s future is uncertain after a serious knee injury, while John Bates and Ben Sinnott haven’t proven receiving threats. Pairing the 25-year-old Pitts with Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin could be enticing for multiple seasons.”
Pitts Upped Value in Contract Year
Pitts, 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, had arguably the best season of his career in 2025, and did so in the final year of his rookie contract.
Spotrac projects Pitts could land a 4-year, $43.3 million contract in free agency, which seems a bit low — his value might be more along the lines of a 4-year, $50 million contract.
Playing with 2 different, erratic starting quarterbacks in Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins, Pitts had 88 receptions for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns on the way to earning NFL All-Pro honors for the first time. It was his best season since he had 68 receptions for 1,028 yards and 1 touchdown in a Pro Bowl rookie season in 2021.
Pitts, 25 years old, became the highest drafted tight end in NFL history when the Falcons selected him at No. 4 overall in the 2021 NFL draft after he won the Mackey Award at the University of Florida and ran the 40-yard dash in a mind-altering 4.40 seconds at the NFL scouting combine.
The biggest problem for Pitts to this point in his career has been the team that drafted him. The Falcons haven’t had a winning season since 2017 and new head coach Kevin Stefanski is the franchise’s fourth head coach since 2020.
Commanders: Swings and Misses Behind Ertz
Ertz brought his career back to life in Washington and was one of the team’s best offensive weapons over the last 2 years with 116 receptions for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns since 2024.
Behind Ertz, it’s kind of a mess. The Commanders seem to have wasted a second round pick on tight end Ben Sinnott in 2024 — he has 16 receptions for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first 2 seasons.
They also grossly overpaid for Bates, who is used almost solely as a blocking tight end, with a 3-year, $21 million contract signed before the 2025 season.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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