With the hiring of Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, many have talked about how tight ends may be utilized more with the team. Though coach Dan Campbell put a damper on that talk at the NFL Combine last week, Detroit could still stand to find some assurance at the tight end position due to both short and long-term questions at the position.
Our 2026 Detroit Lions free agency preview continues with a look at some external tight end fits.
Previously:
Under contract:
- TE Sam LaPorta
- TE Brock Wright
- TE Zach Horton
- TE Thomas Gordon
Lions free agents:
- TE Shane Zylstra
- TE Anthony Firkser
- TE Giovanni Ricci
Tight
end is a bit of a sneaky need. Not only do the Lions not have a clear TE3 behind their top two options, but none of their current tight ends are signed beyond the 2026 season. While LaPorta is likely to undergo extension talks sooner rather than later, it’s less likely for Wright. That leaves Detroit with a moderate immediate need for tight end depth and a pretty significant need for long-term help at the position. When it comes to free agency, the Lions are far more likely to add some short-term insurance than invest significantly in a long-term tight end.
Top free agent RBs available:
Note: Estimated contract numbers are via PFF.
- TE Dallas Goedert (estimated contract: 2 years, $24M)
- TE Travis Kelce (1 year, $15M)
- TE Isaiah Likely (3 years, $28M)
- TE David Njoku (3 years, $32M)
Again, I am not expecting the Lions to go hard into the tight end market this offseason, although the idea of adding Njoku is intriguing. He overlapped with Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing in Cleveland (Petzing was his tight ends coach in 2020-21), and despite a down year in 2025, Njoku has a nice balance of receiving ability and blocking skills.
Best fits:
- TE Daniel Bellinger
- TE Austin Hooper
- TE Tyler Conklin
- TE Chris Manhertz
All four of these players have ties to new offensive coaches on the Lions staff.
Bellinger and Manhertz were both with Mike Kafka in New York last year when he was their offensive coordinator/interim head coach (now Lions pass game coordinator). Bellinger was their TE2, finishing the season with 19 catches for 286 yards and two touchdowns. At just 25 years old, there’s some development to be had there, and he’s already seen some improvement—particularly as a pass blocker.
Manhertz, a 10-year veteran, was mostly served as a TE3 his entire career (only 30 career catches), but he has logged over 1,155 special teams snaps in his career, including a career-high 218 last season. For what it’s worth, PFF gave him an 89.9 special teams grade, best among any tight end with more than 100 snaps. For a TE3, that may be exactly what the Lions are looking for.
Like Njoku, Hooper was coached directly by Petzing in 2020-21, although his production dipped those two years after producing two Pro Bowl seasons with the Falcons. Now entering Year 11 of his career, Hooper is no longer considered a starter, but is more of a high-end TE2. Last year, he produced 21 catches, 263 yards, while playing nearly half his snaps as a run blocker. It wasn’t his best year (56.8 PFF run blocking grade), but he’s typically better than that.
As for Conklin, he’s coming off a rough year with the Chargers. After three years of good production with the Jets, he managed just seven catches for 101 yards in LA, and was even a healthy scratch regularly toward the end of the season. A change of scenery would do him well, and reuniting with Petzing, who overlapped with Conklin for two years with the Vikings in 2018-19, could be just the landing spot he needs.
