Free Agency 2022 Preview: Tight Ends
January 21, 2022
by Steve Thomas
Welcome to the 2022 offseason, at least for the Redskins Washington Football Team some name announced on February 2 Washington. Between now and the start of free agency on March 16, we will preview some of the available free agents for each of the position groups both here in print and on the air on The Hog Sty Podcast. We’re going to start with tight ends this week.
Washington’s 2022 tight end group currently consists of starter Logan Thomas, who is returning from injured reserve, 2021 fourth round pick John Bates, and undrafted free agent Sammis Reyes. Thomas is in year one of a $24M contract extension signed last year, and will count for $6.165M under the salary cap. He was obviously a large part of the 2020 offense and was key to the 2021 effort until hamstring and knee injuries derailed his season. Thomas is the principal reason why Washington needs to bring in a capable tight end but also is probably not going to spend significant money on a free agent in this position group. For his part, Bates showed promise this past season and looks like he can become a solid NFL player in the future. Reyes is the same as he was last year: an uber-athletic project that nobody should count on to produce at any sort of useful level for a couple of seasons, at least. The only real question with this group is whether the extent of Thomas’ injury will cause the front office to consider spending more money on this position group than they otherwise would. I anticipate Washington will try to sign one or two tight ends to fill out their offseason roster, but it almost assuredly won’t be for big money.
For this exercise, I eliminated everyone who isn’t an unrestricted free agent. I’m not in favor of burning draft picks to get a restricted free agent, at least not for a tight end this season, and proposed trades are beyond the scope of this exercise. This list is by no means complete; it is just a survey of some interesting possibilities.
Top of the market players who probably aren’t going to be signed by Washington
Zach Ertz (6’5”/250) (Eagles, Arizona) – 2021: 17 gms/14 starts, 74 rec, 112 tgts, 763 tds, 5 TDs
Jimmy Graham (6’7”/259) (Chicago) – 2021: 15 gms/6 starts, 14 rec, 23 tgts, 167 yds, 3 TDs
C.J. Uzomah (6’6”/260) (Bengals) – 2021: 16 gms/16 starts, 49 rec, 63 tgts, 493 yds, 5 TDs
Gerald Everett (6’3”/240) (Seattle) – 2021: 15 gms/12 starts, 48 rec, 63 tgts, 478 yds, 4 TDs
Evan Engram (6’3”/240) (Giants) – 2021: 15 gms/12 starts, 46 rec, 73 tgts, 408 yds, 3 TDs
Rob Gronkowski: This is never, ever going to happen. Ever. Would it?
All of these players are quality starters who are going to cost as much or more than Logan Thomas already costs. Graham is old and washed up and probably not worth the money, and Gronk most likely not going to be willing to play for anyone but Tom Brady. It is extremely unlikely that Washington will may a serious effort to bring any of these players to Washington.
Mid-level players who are possibilities if Washington wants to spend more than the minimum
Eric Ebron (6’4”/253) (Steelers) – 2021: 8 gms/3 starts, 12 rec, 18 tgts, 84 yds, 1 TD
Maxx Williams (6’4”/252) (Cardinals) – 2021: 5 gms/5 starts, 16 rec, 17 tgts, 193 yds, 1 TD. To IR wk 5
Mo Alie-Cox (6’5”/267) (Colts) – 2021: 17 gms/7 starts, 24 rec, 45 tgts, 316 yds, 4 TDs
O.J. Howard (6’6”/251) (Buccaneers) – 2021: 17 gms/9 starts, 14 rec, 21 tgts, 135 yds, 1 TD
Anthony Firkser (6’2”/247) (Titans) – 2021: 15 gms/1 starts, 34 rec, 43 tgts, 291 yds, 2 TDs
These are a few solid backup types who could come in and contribute at an NFL level for a semi-reasonable price.
Best option
Ricky Seals-Jones (6’5”/243) (Washington) – 2021: 13 gms/6 starts, 30 rec, 49 tgts, 271 yds, 2 TDs
Seals-Jones is by far Washington’s best option. He played at a fairly high level last year after Thomas went down with his injury. He knows the offense and appears to be well liked. The biggest problem with him is probably going to be contractual – with his 2021 success, he may be looking for full-time starter minutes and a multi-year deal. That may be too much for Washington’s front office given that Bates is on the roster as the current backup. If that’s the case, Washington may have to dive a little deeper into the free agent pool to fill out the group.
Again, don’t look at this as a comprehensive list – it’s entirely possible, probably likely, that Washington will sign one or two fairly unknown, low-level tight ends to fill out the offseason roster.