Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury brought in a trio of tight ends and a pair of defensive backs for workouts on Tuesday.
Commanders' fans fears were proved to be reality when head coach Dan Quinn announced that 35-year-old tight end Zach Ertz suffered a torn ACL, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2025 season with the hope the future first ballot Hall of Famer is able to return to end his career on a high note.
Ertz's absence will give John Bates and Ben Sinnott a chance at an upgraded role starting this week as the two former Commander draft selections have combined for 112 yards on 12 catches in 2025. But Washington also brought in a trio of tight ends for workouts on Tuesday in Collin Granger, Dalton Keene and Gee Scott, along with a pair of defensive backs in Keenan Isaac and Kevon Seymour.
Seymour signed with the practice squad, the team announced on Wednesday, alongside running back Chase Edmonds after tight end Zach Ertz was placed on the reserve/injured list.
Keene, a former third round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, is might be the most notable after the Virginia Tech product came off the board on a draft day trade. But Keene was cut in 2022 before spending time on the practice squad with the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos in 2022, then rejoining the Eagles in 2023 before being waived ahead of the season. Keene then joined the Houston Texans in 2023 before being cut with an injury settlement with his three catches in 2020 still his lone production in the NFL.
Gee Scott, a rookie out of Ohio State, signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 NFL Draft before being part of the final wave of roster cuts then briefly spending time on the practice squad.
The most intriguing of the bunch, though, is Colin Granger - who played college basketball. Granger opened his first two seasons of his college career at Ohio where he played sparingly, then transferring to Western Carolina for two seasons before closing out his college basketball career at Coastal Carolina.
Despite the Georgia native going undrafted in April's NFL Draft, Granger signed with the Carolina Panthers in early April before being waived almost exactly one month later due to a hamstring injury.
"Colin had a good workout. He was recommended by George Fant, who we're familiar with from our Seattle days. It's just an opportunity just to add a guy, and be open-minded and just kinda try some new things and see what we have," Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said of Granger after the signing this summer.
While the Commanders are also looking for anyone and everyone in an effort to upgrade what has proven to be a porous secondary, the trio of tight ends give offensive coordinator Dan Quinn a chance to round out the depth, but the final four games could be a better chance to evaluate the pair of tight ends already on the roster whose contracts expire in 2027.
Bates signed a three-year, $21 million extension, including $11.5 million guaranteed, in March while Sinnott, a former second round pick in the 2024 draft, is on year two of a four-year, $7.2 million contract. With Washington officially eliminated from playoff contention, the pair of young tight ends will get a chance to prove themselves after limited roles thus far.
"Finding that edge, finding that spark, finding what needs to get done so we never find our way into this space again. Watching January and February football sucks; we're the ones that did that," head coach Dan Quinn said on Monday about the focus over the final four games. "And we've got to make sure that we do everything in our power individually to make sure that these four weeks matter and it's important and we got to go find those edges."
Meanwhile, one day after releasing wide receiver Chris Moore, Washington announced his signing to the practice squad on Monday with River Cracraft released from the practice squad.