Eagles, Commanders and Chiefs named possible suitors for electric $17 million tight end

The Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs could all be in the market for a starting tight end this offseason.

The starting tight ends for both the Eagles and Commanders, Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz, are pending free agents. Ertz also suffered a torn ACL in 2025 and there's a chance he'll retire.

In Kansas City, the future of Travis Kelce remains up in the air, as the future Hall of Famer could very well retire, which would leave Noah Gray and not much else in the Chiefs' tight ends room.

With all three teams possibly needing a new starting tight end in 2026, CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles believes they will be suitors for Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, who Spotrac projects will get a two-year, $17.6 million deal.

Pereles identified the Commanders as the best landing spot, though.

"Washington needs to replace Zach Ertz," Pereles said, "and Likely provides speed and athleticism Jayden Daniels hasn't had at the position before. Other suitors: Chiefs, Eagles."

After proving to be an explosive weapon in the passing game, the expectation was that Likely would be the future in Baltimore. However, that took a major hit when Baltimore inked Andrews to a big extension late in the season.

With it being unlikely the Ravens will tie up a significant amount of cap space in two tight ends, Likely will probably be playing elsewhere in 2026.

Given his big-play ability and versatility, Likely would be an intriguing weapon for any team that signs him. He's also a capable blocker, so he can be an every-down asset on any offense.

We tend to believe Kelce is going to come back for another season, and his doing so would almost certainly cancel the Chiefs out of a pursuit of Likely.

That means the Commanders and Eagles are more likely to sign the young tight end and Washington has the advantage thanks to their superior amount of cap space. The Commanders have over $40 million more to spend than Philly.

If we were to rank these three suggested landing spots from most to least likely to sign Likely, we'd go Washington, Philadelphia and Kansas City.

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