NFL Player News

Vokolek (neck) announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.

Vokolek suffered a season-ending neck injury in Week 6 of the 2025 season while with the Cardinals, and he has now called it a career as a result of the issue. The tight end spent parts of three campaigns in Arizona, failing to garner a target on offense while recording two tackles as a special-teams asset over eight regular-season contests.

New England signed Van Vooren on Wednesday.

Van Vooren did not make the cut for the Browns' 53-man roster back in August of 2025, but he's now getting another chance to make an impression with a new club. He'll at least be able to give the team some practice reps at tight end after the Patriots placed Julian Hill (knee) on their injured reserve list back in June and placed CJ Dippre (undisclosed) on their active/PUP list to start training camp.

Spann-Ford is expected to earn a spot on Dallas' tight end depth chart behind starter Jake Ferguson, Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Spann-Ford appeared in all 17 games for the Cowboys for the second straight season in 2025, so it's reasonable to anticipate he'll play a role in the offense again in 2026. However, he spent most of his snaps last year blocking, so there's no guarantee an increased snap count would translate to fantasy reliability.

The Seahawks released Bryant on Tuesday, John Boyle of the team's official site reports.

Bryant -- who was let go with an injury waiver -- signed with the Seahawks in late April after playing 12 regular-season games for the Texans in 2025, when he was mostly utilized as a blocking tight end and finished with two catches on six targets for seven yards. Once healthy, Bryant could garner interest from teams looking to add depth to their tight end room.

Dippre (undisclosed) will be on the active/PUP list to start training camp, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

Dippre is working through an injury that he may have picked during the offseason. However, he can be activated from the PUP list at any time during training camp. Dippre signed with the Patriots in May of 2025 as an undrafted free agent and spent most of last season on the practice squad. The tight end appeared in two regular-season games, playing a total of 46 snaps (20 on offense, 26 on special teams) without seeing a target.

LaPorta (herniated disc) was fully cleared earlier this month, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

LaPorta was limited during OTAs and minicamp while rehabbing from back surgery, but now he's on track to participate in training camp with the expectation that he'll be available to work fully in the process, while his initial level of practice involvement will be determined by the Lions. As the coming season approaches, LaPorta is slated to remain on the fantasy radar as a key cog in Detroit's offense while working as the team's top pass-catching tight end. Prior to his injury, LaPorta logged a 40-489-3 line on 49 targets in nine regular-season contests in 2025.

LaPorta (back) is expected to be full go for training camp after he was limited during OTAs and minicamp while rehabbing from back surgery, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.

LaPorta remains Detroit's top tight end after a 2025 regular season in which he was limited to nine games due to a herniated disc, and the arrival of new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing could be especially relevant for his fantasy outlook. Under Petzing, the Cardinals' offense leaned heavily on multiple TE packages last year, and Trey McBride put together a monster 126-1,239-11 campaign. As has been the case in recent seasons, the main thing clouding LaPorta's ceiling will be competition, with wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Isaac TeSlaa, plus Pro Bowl RB Jahmyr Gibbs, all looking for targets from Jared Goff as well.

Kraft (ACL) is likely to begin the first practice of training camp on July 29 on the active/PUP list, though the tight end expects to be a full-go for Week 1, Jason Wilde of Channel 3000 reports.

Kraft is still seemingly ahead of schedule in his rehab process, as Packers GM Brian Guteknust previously stated in May. Even if the tight end's recovery from a right ACL tear causes him to kick off training camp on the PUP list, it's possible he could be given the go-ahead to retake the practice field shortly thereafter. As Wilde reports, though, Kraft could desire a new extension before putting on the pads again. NFL reporter Jordan Schultz reports that the Packers still hope to ink Kraft to a new long-term deal, as he's currently heading into the final year of his rookie contract. Green Bay has a history of exercising caution with player recoveries, especially from injuries such as ACL tears, but Kraft, Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur have all offered optimism about the No. 1 tight end's progress.

The 49ers placed Dinkins (undisclosed) on the active/non-football injury list Saturday.

It's unclear what issue Dinkins is working through, but since he was placed on the active NFI list, he is eligible to practice and play in preseason games once fully healthy. He signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent in late April following a four-year collegiate career at Penn State.

Freiermuth is a candidate to take on a larger role in Pittsburgh's passing game during the 2026 campaign, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Freiermuth was targeted only 54 times in 17 regular-season games in 2025, tying Jonnu Smith for the lead among Pittsburgh's tight ends while Darnell Washington drew 43 targets. Smith is no longer on the team, and while the Steelers made a high-profile addition at wide receiver by bringing in Michael Pittman, they also lost running back Kenneth Gainwell, who led the team with 73 catches last season. It's worth noting Aaron Rodgers typically hasn't relied heavily on tight ends, as no player at the position has recorded more than 767 receiving yards in a regular season on a team quarterbacked by Rodgers.