NFL Player News

The Chiefs released Firkser on Wednesday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Firkser inked a reserve/future deal with the Chiefs after their Super Bowl loss, but he's out of a roster spot following the NFL Draft and Kansas City's signings of undrafted rookies Jake Briningstool and Tre Watson. Firkser, 30, hasn't registered a regular-season catch since securing nine passes for the Falcons in 2022.

Seikovits was waived by the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Seikovits signed a reserve/future contract with Arizona in January. The tight end has spent the last four years with the Cardinals' organization after being allocated to the team via the NFL's International Player Pathway Program in 2021, but he's yet to make his NFL debut.

Briningstool is slated to sign with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent, Pete Grathoff of The Kansas City Star reports.

Briningstool is coming off a senior season at Clemson in which he caught 49 of 76 targets for 530 yards and seven touchdowns over 13 games in 2024. The tight end will look to impress with Kansas City at the team's rookie minicamp and OTAs.

Kittle agreed to a four-year, $76.4 million extension with the 49ers on Tuesday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

The deal reportedly includes $40 million guaranteed and likely will lower Kittle's 2025 salary-cap hit, which was previously scheduled to come in at $22.09 million. He'll turn 32 years old in October but hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, coming off a 2024 campaign with a five-year high for receptions (78), six-year high for receiving yards (1,106) and the second most touchdowns of his career (eight). Kittle still hasn't reached triple-digit targets since 2019, but he's capable of handling more volume if injuries to teammates necessitate it. He's typically the third tight end taken in early 2025 fantasy drafts, after Brock Bowers and Trey McBride.

Fairweather signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent Monday, Tommy Yarrish of the team's official site reports.

Fairweather caught 31 passes for 372 yards and two touchdowns during his final season at Auburn and is now headed to Dallas. He can contribute as both a receiver and as a blocker and will spend the remainder of the offseason competing for a depth role.

New England released Ricci on Monday.

Ricci didn't log any action last season after having been cut by the Browns at the end of training camp, but he resurfaced in the league via a reserve/future contract with the Patriots in early February. Now, the 28-year-old tight end will have to look elsewhere in the NFL for another chance at a depth role.

Njoku (knee) will be joined in Cleveland's TE room by No. 67 overall pick Harold Fannin.

Fannin is a unique prospect, lacking ideal size (6-foot-3, 241 pounds) and speed (4.71 40) but still attracting plenty of NFL interest thanks to his FBS-leading 117 receptions at Bowling Green last season. Njoku is bigger, faster, stronger and a better blocker, but Fannin may ultimately push for some passing-down snaps in single-TE formations if he runs crisp routes and is quick to learn the offense. It's a comparable situation to the one in Baltimore with Isaiah Likely, who also put up huge numbers at a mediocre college program and notably didn't have much impact on Mark Andrews' role until their third season playing together. Of course, Njoku isn't held in the same regard as Andrews, and the Browns may take more of an interest in developing young players during a likely rebuilding year than the Ravens did while trying to win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, there hasn't been any update on the knee injury that held Njoku out for the final two games of last season. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it might just mean he avoided surgery and completed his recovery without incident.

The Rams spent a second-round pick on TE Terrance Ferguson, who some scouts have compared to Higbee, per Tyler Greenawalt of Rams Wire.

The comparison makes sense if talking about Higbee as a draft prospect back in 2016, at which point he was carrying 249 pounds on a 6-foot-6 frame and mostly valued for pass-catching potential. It doesn't fit as well when discussing the current version of Higbee, listed at 255 pounds and valued for versatility. He's proven capable of taking on significant receiving workloads when needed, including during last season's playoffs, but it's never been something that coach Sean McVay prefers to do. With Ferguson competing for TE snaps and Davante Adams a probable upgrade on Cooper Kupp at wide receiver, Higbee appears unlikely to draw more than four or five targets per game, if that, in 2025. Higbee's bet shot at fantasy value would entail Adams or Puka Nacua missing time while Ferguson fails to earn a role.

Simon has signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent, Terrin Waack of the team's official site reports.

Simon joins the Falcons as a UDFA out of South Carolina. The 6-foot-4, 239-pound tight end had 519 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 2024. He'll compete for a depth role in camp behind Kyle Pitts.

Fant could face competition for the starting job after the Seahawks selected Elijah Arroyo (knee) in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

A 2019 first-round pick, Fant's career has never truly taken off, as his best marks for receiving were in 2020 when he posted a 62-673-3 line, and he has scored just one touchdown over the past two seasons with the Seahawks. Thus, it's not surprising that the Seahawks addressed tight end early in the draft after also taking AJ Barner in the fourth round last year. Arroyo may take some time to develop, but he looks like the Seahawks' long-term plan at the position.