With several needs on both sides of the ball, could the Washington Commanders turn to a splashy option at tight end?
Tight end is a major need for the Washington Commanders this offseason after veteran Zach Ertz suffered a season-ending injury in the week 14 road loss vs. Minnesota, adding to the list of questions for general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn to address this offseason.
To complicate the short-term outlook of the unit, Washington also returns a trio of tight ends to the 2026 roster with John Bates, Ben Sinnott and Colson Yankoff all under contract while Peters previously expressed he doesn't "anticipate [Ertz] being ready at the beginning of the season."
"So you look and to develop and really utilize those three guys as skillset and I think they're all really good players in their own right," Peters said in his end of season press conference.
But what Washington has in the room remains largely unknown, especially in the passing game with limited production for both Sinnott and Bates even after Ertz went down.
One day after an outlet projected the Commanders will sign tight end Isaiah Likely, another outlet pointed to a second top free agent option at the position as a name to watch for Washington.
PFF wrote that the Commanders should target former Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts while also projecting that Atlanta targets tight end David Njokou, marking a potential reunion with Kevin Stefanski who was fired from Atlanta and since named the next head coach in Atlanta.
While Likely may offer the higher upside given the inconsistent and limited production after rotating with Mark Andrews for four seasons, Pitts is coming off a career year after a lackluster start to his NFL career. Part of that is tied to scheme and usage, but Pitts will look to cash in on his 2025 season.
In his fifth season, Pitts set career highs in both catches (88, targets (118) and receiving touchdowns (5) while finishing nearly 100 yards away from matching hir rookie total of 1,026 receiving yards. Despite Pitts' extra season in the NFL, he's tied with Likely with 15 receiving touchdowns though Pitts has secured over 2,000 more receiving yards.
But what the Falcons opt to do may be most telling given the option to franchise tag, while Pitts expressed optimism in the future offense under head coach Kevin Stefanski due to his history of tight end production.
"That'd be dope in general as a room and just like for morale as an offensive piece -- the tight end being one of the focal points in it," said Pitts on a podcast with Jordan Schultz and Draymond Green. "Not saying it wasn't before, but it being like a higher, more-enhanced role. So that would be the cool part and, you know, to see what he's done in the past is great. Talking to David [Njoku] -- nothing but great things to say and I think that would be pretty cool."
Pitts has yet to miss a game in four of his five seasons in the league while he led the team in every major category except receiving touchdowns with his five only second on the team to Drake London's seven receiving touchdowns in 2025.