Hide your kids, hide your wife, push those real-life responsibilities back another week: NFL free agency is HERE, baby!

Today, we'll celebrate the upcoming mid-March holiday by breaking down the top tight ends set to hit the open market.

And if you want to see the top Free Agents at other positions, here you are:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver

As always: It's a great day to be great.

The Best Free Agent TEs for Fantasy Football 2026

Main character: Dallas Goedert

• Key numbers: Goedert is fresh off scoring 13 touchdowns in 16 games (including playoffs), although the 31-year-old veteran also averaged a career-low 9.9 yards per reception.

One impact of the Eagles moving away from spamming the tush push as much in 2025 was Goedert becoming a bit of a vulture near the goal line: 8 of his 13 scores came from inside the five-yard line, and only three were longer than nine yards. This reality makes the big season a bit of a fugazi, as Goedert's efficiency numbers don't exactly paint the picture of an elite tight end.

Goedert among 28 tight ends with 50+ targets in 2025:

• Yards per route run: 1.39 (18th)
• Yards per reception: 9.8 (16th)
• Yards per target: 7.2 (15th)
• Targets per route run: 19.3% (16th)
• Passer rating when targeted: 132.7 (2nd)

Certainly not bad, but it's unclear if a team will be ready to really open up the bank vault. Simply returning home to the Eagles would seemingly provide the most fantasy-friendly landing spot based on what we just saw last season; otherwise, landing somewhere with little overall target competition (Miami? Tennessee? Carolina?) would be best for the eight-year veteran.

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Could we finally get a full-time role?: Isaiah Likely

• Key numbers: 1,568 yards and 15 TDs as Mark Andrews' overqualified backup for four seasons in Baltimore. Down 2025 was at least partially influenced by a foot fracture suffered at the end of July.

Likely's rough 2025 was even worse when remembering two of the specific mishaps:

• Fumbling away a touchdown at the goal line on Thanksgiving.
• His touchdown against the Steelers … that wasn't ruled a touchdown … but was still being talked about months later by the league.

Still, there's a reason why fantasy nerds and virgins around the world have been intrigued with Likely over the years: He's one of the position's best YAC talents when at his best. Overall, Likely's career average of 5.5 yards after the catch per reception is tied for the eighth-highest mark among 34 qualified TEs since 2022. The man has put some ridiculous highlights on tape over the years.

The biggest potential issue for Likely is the same problem he ran into in Baltimore: It's tough (read: impossible) to score fantasy points if you aren't on the football field. Following Todd Monken to Cleveland (Harold Fannin) or John Harbaugh to New York (Theo Johnson) could present the same part-time role that has unfortunately left Likely out of the fantasy TE1 conversation far more weeks than not throughout his career.

One year removed from fantasy goodness: David Njoku

• Key numbers: Averaged under 25 yards per game for the first time since 2020 last season, undoubtedly in part due to being slowed by various knee injuries.

Njoku was outplayed by rookie Harold Fannin in 2025, but that shouldn't take away from what "Chief" has achieved during his career. The former first-round pick did a LOT of really good things during the 2022-2024 seasons when trusted as Cleveland's clear-cut No. 1 TE.

Because of this, I don't love the idea of Njoku simply following Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta and working as the Robin to Kyle Pitts' Batman. Their skill sets do mesh nicely—Njoku is cut from the same cloth as longtime YAC-stud Jonnu Smith—but typically teams that heavily feature *two* tight ends struggle to enable even *one* consistently viable one in fantasy land, even if we'll continue to hear the potential for teams to deploy them like Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez back in the day.

The Other Guys

Mr. Swift: Future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce is technically a free agent, although it seems more of a matter of if he will retire than if he will return to Kansas City. While the best seasons of Kelce's career are certainly in the rear-view mirror, we did see the longtime stud bounce back in his ability to create yards after the catch last season. This could be needed more than ever in 2026 should Rashee Rice have to serve (another) lengthy suspension.

Old but not forgotten: We have a handful of rather old tight ends who might still have another year or two in them:

• Zach Ertz (35) is coming off a torn ACL, but reportedly is expected to be cleared to return around Week 1.
• Tyler Higbee (33) won't really be someone fantasy managers are dying to land, but leaving Los Angeles would at least help create a clearer pecking order for the remaining parties.
• Darren Waller (33) caught six touchdowns in nine games after unretiring in 2025.
• Taysom Hill (35) averaged career-low marks in yards per rush (2.2) and yards per target (5.7) in 2025.

There's something there if you squint: Titans TE Chig Okonkwo has averaged 504 yards and two scores across his four-year career, flashing some fun yards-after-the-catch ability along the way. The former fourth-rounder is a bit of a tweener (6'3", 238 pounds) and finds himself in the Isaiah Likely mold as someone who might not be trusted as an every-down TE in every offense. Still, it'd be easy to fall in love with a potential second-contract boom should Chiggy settle in somewhere like Kansas City, where they know how to get the most out of an athletic option at the position.

Great answers to "Name a random tight end" questions in five years: Include JAGs like Adam Trautman, Daniel Bellinger, Austin Hooper, Charlie Kolar, Kylen Granson, Foster Moreau, Andrew Ogletree and Tyler Conklin. Nobody who we'll necessarily get excited about in fantasy land, but they are capable of serving as "progress stoppers" on the right team and hurting the potential upside of someone else.

George Kittle is hurt, dog: And last season, Jake Tonges (RFA) was the main beneficiary. Overall, he worked as the TE9 in total PPR points in Weeks 1-6 with Kittle sidelined before tacking on additional solid 7-60-1 and 5-59-0 receiving lines in Week 17 and in the Divisional Round in two additional spot starts. It's unlikely Tonges climbs up into draftable territory, but returning to San Fran would set him up to work as a streamer-friendly option at the position during September. 

Maybe someone still believes: Guys like Noah Fant, Greg Dulcich and Harrison Bryant still likely have some truthers scattered across the fantasy industry. Will any actually turn things around and contribute in a meaningful enough way to re-emerge as potential fantasy stars? Unlikely, but you could imagine what it'd be like if they did!

The largest man on the planet: Features longtime Colts TE Mo Alie-Cox. The runner-up: Ex-Colts/Jets TE Jelani Woods. Will either be fantasy relevant in 2026 or beyond? Almost certainly not. Are they still massive human beings? You bet!

Potential cap casualties: The fine folks at Over The Cap have identified the following WRs as potential cap casualties. Three especially notable potential cuts are Bills TE Dawson Knox, Bears TE Cole Kmet and Rams TE Colby Parkinson, as removing those veterans from those respective #good offenses would seemingly open up newfound full-time roles for young studs Dalton Kincaid, Colston Loveland and Terrance Ferguson.

• Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson ($5.3M in dead money, $16M in cap savings)
• Texans TE Dalton Schultz ($4.5M dead, $11.5M savings)
• Patriots TE Hunter Henry ($2.5M dead, $9.3M savings)
• Broncos TE Evan Engram ($7.7M dead, $6.5M savings)
• Bills TE Dawson Knox ($5.1M dead, $12M savings)
• Bears TE Cole Kmet ($1.6M dead, $10M savings)
• Rams TE Colby Parkinson ($2.1M dead, $7M savings)
• Steelers TE Jonnu Smith ($3.9M dead, $7M savings)
• Panthers TE Tommy Tremble ($2M dead, $6M savings)
• Bengals TE Mike Gesicki ($2.2M dead, $5.4M savings)
• Falcons TE Charlie Woerner ($1M dead, $4.8M savings)
• Chargers TE Will Dissly ($1.5M dead, $4M savings)

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