It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
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One position group (of many) that is filled with question marks heading into 2025 is tight ends. The top two tight ends from 2024 are impending free agents, and the rookie 2nd round pick, Ben Sinnott, left a lot of questions unanswered in his initial NFL season.
2024 roster
Zach Ertz was signed on a one-year contract in 2024. He has said often and with apparent sincerity that he was happy to be in a place where he was wanted and looking to reorient himself after some unpleasant experiences in the latter part of his Arizona tenure. He has also been outspoken about how much he enjoyed the ‘24 season, speaking glowingly of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, head coach Dan Quinn, rookie QB Jayden Daniels and the rest of his teammates, and the organization in general, led by GM Adam Peters. Ertz has already said that he has no interest in retiring, and it seems clear that he would welcome the opportunity to come back to the Commanders for another year (or longer). The question, I think, is whether the front office and coaching staff want to bring back the 35-yr-old 11-year veteran.
John Bates was drafted by Washington in the 4th round of the 2021 draft, and he has been a reliable contributor, playing between 500 and 519 offensive snaps per season while playing at least 31% of special teams snaps in 3 of his 4 seasons with the team. Bates is not a big part of the Commanders receiving corps, though he has a career reception rate of 69.3% of targets and a 55.7% success rate as a receiver. He compiled 249 yards and a TD as a rookie, but that proved to be the highest statistical production of his 4-year career in which he has 592 yards and 2 TDs. Bates has proven his value as a blocker, with analyst Logan Paulsen recently making this comment about him: :I’m not being hyperbolic when I say, try to find me a better blocking “Y” in the NFL than John Bates, and I’m not sure that you can.” Bates is an impending free agent, and I think he should be a priority re-signing for a team that needs good blocking and to retain a core of players who define “what it means to be a Commander”.
Ben Sinnott was drafted 53rd overall last April. He had a fairly quiet rookie season, playing just 311 offensive snaps, 155 special teams snaps, and catching 5 passes (on 5 total targets) for 28 yards and a touchdown. Sinnott didn’t look bad when he played; he simply wasn’t a big part of the offensive plan in 2024. This may have simply been a product of Zach Ertz being more productive than expected. I think a lot of fans will be looking closely at what the coaches have planned for Sinnott in 2025.
Colson Yankoff and Cole Turner have both signed contracts to return to the Commanders in 2025. Turner spent the entire ‘24 season on the practice squad, while Yankoff is primarily a special teams player who was active for just 6 regular season games and 2 playoff games in an injury plagued season in which he was on the field for only 6 offensive snaps.
2025 Free Agency options
The Commanders have already signed Tyree Jackson and Lawrence Cager to future contracts, but neither is likely to progress much beyond training camp and/or practice-squad without a shockingly good performance between now and September.
For a full list of upcoming free agents, CLICK HERE
The list can be sorted by team or position.
Of course, some — maybe even most — of the most talented of these players will re-sign with their current teams, but Washington should be a popular destination for free agents looking for an opportunity to get to the playoffs with a dynamic quarterback. Washington should offer more appeal to high-quality free agents than at any other time in this century.
Options in the NFL Draft
Below is a list of college tight ends who will be entering the NFL via the draft in April, ranked by CBS Sports.
The overall rank in the left column can provide some general guidance about which round each player is expected to be drafted in, though such rankings are highly subjective and likely to change substantially between now and the end of April.
Washington holds the following draft picks (per Tankathon):
