Eagles Still Need Long-Term Tight End Answer - What Are Their Options?

It will be four years since the Eagles selected a tight end when the NFL Draft begins next spring in Pittsburgh. Grant Calcaterra was the last tight end they took, and that was in the sixth round of the 2022 draft.

Next year, Howie Roseman will end that streak, right? The Eagles won’t have any tight ends under contract after the 2025 season, and the general manager is expected to have 13 picks, so that streak surely has to hit a brick wall in the 2026 draft, right?

Many, thought Roseman would stop the drought when the draft was held last month, especially with Dallas Goedert’s muddled contract situation.

The uncertain situation came into sharper focus earlier this week, when it was reported that the Eagles and Goedert agreed to a one-year deal to return for $10 million and some incentives to make a little more.

Great news for this season. Beyond that? Muddled once again. The Eagles won’t have any tight ends under contract for 2026 once this season ends, and Goedert will turn 31 in January. If he plays all 17 games and puts up numbers similar to two years ago, when in 14 games, he had 59 catches for 592 yards, he could get another contract. Will it be here or somewhere else?

The tight end crop has been fairly deep in the past two drafts, with three going in the first round – Brock Bowers (No. 13) in 2024 and Colston Loveland (No. 10 )and Tyler Warren (No. 14) this past draft, with five tight ends going in the top 50 this past spring.

Also in 2025, four tight ends went in the fifth and seventh rounds. Last year, five were selected in the fourth round.

The 2026 draft isn’t expected to yield any first-round picks, per Pro Football Focus, and the tight end free agent class after this season isn’t overwhelming, unless Zach Ertz, who will be 36 next year, can still be productive this year with the Commanders and wants to continue playing.

There’s an intriguing possibility in Green Bay, where John FitzPatrick will likely hit the market. A sixth-round pick in 2022, he played at Georgia, is 6-7, 262 pounds, and will be just 26 next year. But has played just 91 snaps in his career and is fourth on the Packers’ depth chart. FitzPatrick isn’t likely the answer moving forward.

The draft may not even hold the answer. "An early evaluation of the 2026 class shows that it’s not nearly as good at the top, lacking a projected first-round pick,” wrote PFF. “However, there are still plenty of intriguing players who can make that leap.”

Some names PFF lists include Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, Texas’ Jack Endries, Ohio State’s Max Klare, North Carolina State’s Justin Joly, Houston’s Tanner Koziol, Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, Tennessee’s Mile Kitselman, Michigan State’s Jack Velling, Georgia’s Oscar Delp, and Mississippi’s Luke Hasz.

College football Saturdays are still months away, but it’s a position to watch for the Eagles as it unspools.