NFL Player News

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Wednesday that he expects Ertz to be included on the Week 1 roster, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports.

Roseman was spotted talking to Ertz on Wednesday after the first practice of training camp, following an offseason in which the veteran tight end was a frequent subject of trade rumors. It's unclear if the Eagles aggressively shopped him or merely listened to offers, but Ertz can still likely be had, though Philadelphia may not be ready to give him away for next to nothing. The 30-year-old tight end has a non-guaranteed $8.5 million base salary this season, while his main competition at the position, 26-year-old Dallas Goedert, still has a year remaining on his rookie contract.

Ertz reported Tuesday for the start of training camp, though it still isn't clear he'll be with the Eagles come Week 1, Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The Eagles don't want to trade Ertz for pennies, but that's what they may end up doing -- if not outright releasing him -- when faced with the reality of an $8.5 million base salary (non-guaranteed) for a 30-year-old tight end who may not even be a starter anymore. Then again, it's a reasonable price to pay if Ertz can rebound to his pre-2020 form, following an injury-shortened season in which he was thoroughly outplayed by fellow Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert, a 2018 second-round pick who is now entering the final year of his rookie contract. Conventional wisdom for a rebuilding team would be to trade Ertz and extend Goedert, but there are still a few different ways it could play out. Unfortunately, none of those scenarios is likely to return Ertz to his days of perennial triple-digit targets.

Asiasi (illness) has tested positive for COVID-19 and is practicing virtually, Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reports.

Asiasi is considered 'out indefinitely' according to Hannable, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that the second-year tight end is only experiencing mild symptoms, and that he's targeting a return to the field as soon as he's cleared all of the league's protocols related to COVID-19. David Wells is expected to handle increased reps behind Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith until Asiasi is cleared for a return.

Hooper and QB Baker Mayfield should have better chemistry in their second season together, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Hooper was disappointing for fantasy managers last season, unable to overcome the challenge of joining a new team with a new coaching staff in a year without spring practices or preseason games. He had a better year from the Browns' standpoint, with competent blocking helping the team's prolific rushing attack and a late flurry of receiving production contributing to a playoff appearance. Hooper is locked in as a starter for the second season of a four-year, $42 million contract, but there's no guarantee of improvement on his 2020 average of 5.4 targets per game, considering the Browns also have David Njoku and Harrison Bryant at tight end, not to mention WR Odell Beckham returning from an ACL tear. On the other hand, Hooper does have plenty of room to improve his efficiency after posting career lows for both catch rate (65.7 percent) and yards per target (6.2) last season. He had a 77.3 percent catch rate and 8.1 YPT in four years with the Falcons.

Hockenson is "poised for even more" this season, according to Benjamin Raven of MLive.com.

Despite having major ankle surgery at the end of his rookie season, Hockenson bounced back in Year 2 to start 16 games, handling a 73.2 percent snap share and 101 targets. The eighth overall pick from the 2019 Draft could now see even more work in his third NFL season, after the Lions traded QB Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff and then lost WRs Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones in free agency. Touchdowns may be hard to come by on a rebuilding team, but Hockenson is one of the few tight ends in the league who is considered the favorite to lead his team in targets. The volume alone should make him a fantasy asset, and there's plenty of upside if he takes another step forward while Goff turns in a competent season.

Thomas is signing a three-year extension with Washington, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

The two-year, $6.15 million contract Thomas signed last offseason ended up being a bargain for Washington, as the tight end entered the year with 317 career receiving yards before catching 72 passes for 670 yards and six touchdowns. Thomas did it on the strength of volume, with 110 targets in 16 games, but he also improved his efficiency after a rough start, producing 3.3 YPT in Weeks 1-5 and 7.2 YPT in Weeks 6-17. He averaged 5.3 catches for 51.3 yards over those final 11 games, then added five receptions for 74 yards in the playoff loss to Tampa. In any case, Thomas turned 30 this summer, but he could still be on the upswing given that it wasn't until 2014 that he began the transition from quarterback to tight end. That said, he's unlikely to see 110 targets again, as Washington no longer has an empty cupboard behind Terry McLaurin at wide receiver. The team now has Thomas under contract through 2024, Curtis Samuel and Antonio Gibson signed through 2023, and McLaurin through 2022. It's a solid group of pass catchers for 38-year-old QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who should be an upgrade on last year's disastrous QB room -- Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke all made starts.

Mack seems like the favorite for the No. 3 tight end role in Detroit, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic reports.

One of the first players the Lions' new regime added this offseason, Mack will primarily need to fend off Jake Hausmann and Brock Wright to secure a roster spot.

Freiermuth has performed well early in training camp, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com reports.

Freiermuth had a strong practice Saturday and made several impressive catches while the team practiced without pads. The tight end suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after appearing in just four games at Penn State in 2020, but he still totaled 1,185 yards and 16 touchdowns across his three collegiate seasons. The 22-year-old will face another test soon when the Steelers practice in full pads, but he appears to be on track to compete for a role in Pittsburgh's offense ahead of the regular season.

James signed a one-year contract with the Bears on Sunday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

James averaged 377.7 yards per season from 2016 to 2018 with the Steelers, but he totaled just 271 yards and two touchdowns with the Lions across the last two seasons. The 27-year-old will have to compete behind Cole Kmet and Jimmy Graham for targets in Chicago.

Hudson is considered the favorite to secure the fourth tight end job heading into the 2021 season, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.

The 26-year-old is expected to hold off the likes of Codey McElroy and journeyman Jerell Adams for the job barring any training camp/preseason surprises. Hudson has cobbled together a 5-67 line on 12 targets over the last two seasons, and even though he's displayed some impressive athleticism down the seam in limited action, it would presumably take an injury to the top trio of Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard (Achilles) and Cameron Brate (undisclosed) for him to have any chance at a consistent weekly role that would afford him even modest fantasy value.