NFL Player News

49ers GM John Lynch says Kittle plans to attend training camp, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Entering the final season of his rookie contract, Kittle has a rock-solid argument for the largest payday an NFL tight end has ever seen. Lynch says communications with Kittle's agent have been productive so far, apparently inspiring confidence that a deal will be reached soon enough. Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel (foot) is in danger of missing the start of the season, potentially creating an opportunity for Kittle to handle an even larger target share than usual.

Swaim (concussion/ankle) is set to have a tryout and physical with the Texans on Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Swaim was placed on IR by the Jaguars last October due to a concussion and ankle injury. There has yet to be an update on his status, so his upcoming physical will bring more clarity to his current health.

Wood-Anderson was waived by the Seahawks on Sunday.

The undrafted rookie was always a long shot to stick in Seattle's crowded tight end corps, as Greg Olsen, Will Dissly (Achilles), Jacob Hollister, Colby Parkinson (foot) and Luke Willson are all capable enough to realistically compete for roster spots. The Tennessee product will turn his attention to competing for a depth role elsewhere.

Houston was cut by the Cardinals on Sunday.

One of two tight ends that were signed as undrafted free agents by the team this offseason, Houston couldn't make the 80-man roster to open camp. The San Diego State product only notched 45 catches for 420 yards and three touchdowns in 49 contests in his collegiate career. He'll look for more of a blocking and depth role elsewhere for 2020.

Wolf was waived by the Rams on Saturday, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

The 24-year-old joined the Rams on a reserve/future contract at the end of the season but won't begin training camp with the team. Wolf is still looking to make his NFL debut since going undrafted out of Tennessee in 2018.

Kroft is in good position to log a productive 2020 campaign with the Bills, Maddy Glab of the team's official site reports.

Kroft is coming off an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, in which he had just six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown across 11 games. Now fully recovered from the broken foot that caused him to sit out the first seven weeks of 2019, and having agreed to restructure his contract in order to remain with Buffalo, the 27-year-old should have real opportunities to compete with Dawson Knox for starting snaps in training camp. Kroft showcased solid receiving capabilities with the Bengals back in 2017, when he accumulated 42 catches for 404 yards and seven scores while playing a full 16-game slate. While a bounce-back season almost seems likely, it's difficult to envision Kroft entering elite TE territory, given that he plays in a run-oriented offense, will compete for looks with Knox all season, and at best would be the fourth or fifth option in the passing game.

Smith is the undisputed top tight end in Tennessee, Jim Wyatt of the team's official website reports.

Smith was the top guy after Delanie Walker suffered season-ending injuries the past two years, handling a 75.3 percent snap share in 2018 (13 games) and 70.8 percent share in 2019 (16 games). Smith's impressive work after the catch helped him produce 12.7 yards per reception and 9.4 per target the past two years, but he's never seen consistent volume in the run-first Tennessee offense, averaging only 3.7 targets in the nine games Walker missed last year. While Walker is now out of the picture, the Titans have shown some affinity for using Anthony Firkser over Smith in obvious passing situations, a role that allowed Firkser to average 2.4 targets over the final nine games last year. Smith has the talent to be a high-end fantasy asset in the right role, but it isn't clear if he'll get enough volume to provide steady production in Tennessee this season. He's entering the final year of his rookie contract and will turn 25 in late August.

Henry and the Chargers didn't reach an agreement on a contract extension before Wednesday's deadline, Jeff Miller of the LA Times reports.

The 25-year-old tight end will play out 2020 with a base salary of $10.6 million under the franchise tag, potentially facing a second tag for $12.7 million next offseason. Despite missing four games with a knee injury early in the season, Henry finished 2019 with career highs for targets (76), receptions (55) and yards (652). He did slow down in December, when he was limited to a 16-165-2 receiving line in five games. The combination of Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert at quarterback isn't ideal, but Henry at least figures to handle a three-down role for the 2020 Chargers, competing for targets with Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler and Mike Williams.

Henry is not expected to sign an extension before the July 15 deadline, Gilbert Manzano of The Orange Country Register reports.

Henry, who already signed his $10.6 million franchise tag tender, didn't sound optimistic about a possible extension before the July 15 deadline saying, "I'm just going to go out there. I get a chance to play this year and do my thing this year. I'm pretty locked in on what I got ahead of me in the 2020 season. That's what I'm locked in for, you know, I don't like to look too far ahead." The starting tight end has run into a slew of different injuries throughout his career, but he has still piled together 1,709 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns despite missing 23 games over the past four seasons.

Knox has been working through drills this offseason that will help him reduce his number of dropped passes in 2020, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports. "I think a big piece of it is going to be his availability and his consistency," head coach Sean McDermott said this week. "Sometimes what you see the first year is the lack of at times consistency, and I think Dawson is aware of that and he's committed to developing to the point where that becomes a strength of his and we're here to help him with it."

Knox had the NFL's worst drop rate (12 percent) among tight end qualifiers in 2019, and his 56 percent catch rate was also remarkably low. Even so, those figures alone don't indicate that Dawson turned in a bad rookie season. To the contrary, he filled a major hole after starter Tyler Kroft suffered a broken foot before the season. Knox finished with a 28-388-2 line, far better than most preseason projections put him down for. He will likely be competing with Kroft -- who returned toward the end of the season -- for the bigger role in Buffalo's offense in 2020, but the former offers the bigger upside if he can win the job outright, or even cause the Bills to think about releasing Kroft in a potential cost-cutting move. Knox is worth watching as he continues to get more familiar with the NFL game -- it's worth noting he started his career at Mississippi as a quarterback -- as well as offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's system.