Former Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo turned a career year into a three-year, $30 million deal in Washington as Tennessee reshapes the tight end room.
Former Tennessee Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo has cashed in after the best season of his NFL career, agreeing to a three-year contract with the Washington Commanders on Wednesday.
Okonkwo was one of the better tight ends left available on the open market, and now the University of Maryland product returns to the DMV area.
He had a career-high 56 receptions and 560 receiving yards for the Titans in 2025.
Okonkwo totaled 194 receptions, 2,017 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns over his four years in Tennessee after being drafted by the Titans in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
From the moment he arrived in Tennessee, Okonkwo brought an element of explosiveness to the Titans offense. His speed and ability to create yards after the catch is what drew NFL scouts to him in the first place. The Titans often tried to get him the ball in space where his athleticism could take over.
Okonkwo is a good player, albeit with a specific and unique skill set. He’s an excellent runner for the tight end position and while those explosive moments from Okonkwo were too infrequent in the early stages of his career, he became a pretty consistent force as a pass catcher in 2025. His improvement as a route runner and overall reliability helped him become a bigger part of the Titans' passing game during Cam Ward's rookie season
That being said, he was more of a glorified wide receiver and never truly developed as a blocker like the Titans would have hoped. In an offense that is expected to emphasize physicality at the line of scrimmage and value duplicity at the tight end position, that limitation ultimately mattered as Tennessee assessed free agency.
The best complement for Gunnar Helm moving forward—especially in a Brian Daboll offense—is a blocking-first tight end, which is why the Titans signed Daniel Bellinger to a three-year contract when the legal tampering window opened on Monday.
Okonkwo’s deal with the Commanders will be worth up to $30 million over three years—a price that I personally am fine with Tennessee passing on.
He will certainly be missed in Nashville by fans and teammates alike. Okonkwo had a great locker-room presence and was very popular among his Titans teammates.
But this is the reality of NFL free agency. Difficult decisions need to be made for the betterment of the team, and the Titans are moving on to a new era and a new offense—one that will feature plenty of Gunnar Helm and Daniel Bellinger.