The 2025 season ended a little over a month ago, but the 2026 season is now officially underway. And with that comes one of the best parts of the offseason: free agency. While much has remained the same for the elite players, we’ve already seen a shake-up across the fantasy landscape, with some signal-callers and tight ends changing teams. This is the time of the year when dynasty values can change in a hurry based on where a player signs — or who his team brings in to compete with him.
That’s what makes this stretch of the offseason so fun. We’re reacting to the news and contract figures and trying to figure out what actually matters for fantasy football. Who’s set to take a leap next season? Which players took a hit because of a trade or a rough landing spot? Last week, I discussed the running backs and wide receivers. Focusing on the quarterbacks and tight ends this time, here are the biggest winners and losers from free agency so far.
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2026 Free Agency Winners
Kyler Murray (QB – Vikings)
About to crush it in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, I’m dubbing Kyler Murray the “Midget of Minnesota.” After being released by the Cardinals, he wasted no time finding a new home on a one-year deal with the Vikings. It’s a landing spot that boosts his short-term outlook and provides a chance to rehabilitate his career. There won’t actually be a competition between him and J.J. McCarthy. Let’s be real — “Nine” just lost his job.
If you throw out 2025, Murray has averaged at least 18.1 fantasy points and finished as a QB1 on a per-game basis in every season of his career. It isn’t always pretty, but when he’s healthy, you can expect around 3,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards, and roughly 25-30 combined touchdowns. Now, he gets to play with Justin Jefferson, who is arguably the best receiver in football. Add in wideout Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson, and it’s one of the league’s QB-friendly environments. Murray just might provide one of his best fantasy seasons yet.
Kyler Murray‘s Career Stats
The upside is obvious, but the best part is you don’t have to pay full freight for him. Before the signing, Murray was dead in the water, sitting at QB27 on KeepTradeCut. As of this writing, he’s only moved up one spot in the rankings. Do what you can to get him now, while the market is still lagging. In a couple of months, I expect Murray to be in the QB16-18 range.
Malik Willis (QB – Dolphins)
This was an ideal landing spot for fantasy purposes. The Dolphins moved on from the Tua Tagovailoa era by signing the intriguing Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million deal. Following head coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan in the move from Green Bay to Miami, Willis finally gets the chance to lead an NFL offense as a full-time starter for the first time in his career.
While serving as Jordan Love‘s backup for the last two years, the former third-round pick started three games in that span. In those contests, Willis completed 43-of-54 passes (79.6%) for 612 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also racked up 174 rushing yards and three scores on 21 carries.
Much love and respect to packer nation supporting us and me the past 2 years! It has been awesome upholding the standard for the green and gold 🧀. It has been more than a blessing and i will never forget my time here and the relationships I made! Fins Up 🐬
Matthew 6:33-34
But… pic.twitter.com/iybRtdRKCE— Malik Willis (@malikwillis) March 9, 2026
Now he has the speedy Jaylen Waddle and the electric De’Von Achane as his top weapons. Just being real, though — it’s Willis’ rushing that makes him such an exciting player for fantasy. That mobility gives him both a solid floor and a high ceiling. In his lone 2025 start, Willis rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns against the Ravens. He put up 31.5 fantasy points in that game, good for the overall QB3 that week.
The cat’s out of the bag now. Willis will continue to get steamed up draft boards as the offseason chugs along. And if he plays as well as he did in his recent spot starts, he’ll be a low-end QB1 in fantasy.
Isaiah Likely (TE – Giants)
Just like Willis following familiar faces to a new home, tight end Isaiah Likely did the same thing by linking back up with John Harbaugh in The Big Apple. Now, Likely is finally out from under Mark Andrews‘ shadow and has a shot to be the No. 2 option in the passing game behind Malik Nabers after signing a three-year deal worth up to $47.5 million.
Last year wasn’t great for Likely. A fractured foot suffered in the preseason caused him to miss the first three regular-season games, and he never really got going. He finished with just 307 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Isaiah Likely‘s Advanced Metrics
Still, it wasn’t long ago that Likely looked like the next big thing at tight end. In 2024, he posted 42 receptions for 477 yards and six scores while ranking near the top of the position in several efficiency metrics, including first downs per route run, yards per route run (YPRR), and target separation. He kicked it off the right way, catching nine passes for 111 yards in the season opener against Kansas City.
Given his familiarity with Harbaugh and the size of his contract, Likely should be the lead tight end over incumbent Theo Johnson. He’ll be a low-end TE1 with some boom-or-bust weeks mixed in, especially with Jaxson Dart likely to scramble often, thus creating a little volatility in the passing game.
Chigoziem Okonkwo (TE – Commanders)
This is about as good a landing spot as Chigoziem Okonkwo could’ve hoped for. Jayden Daniels has shown over the past two seasons that he likes to utilize his tight ends. He made veteran Zach Ertz fantasy-relevant again after it looked like his career might be done.
Now, can Okonkwo finally cash in on the promise he’s teased since entering the league? He’s dependable and has never missed a game in four seasons, but the production has been rather pedestrian for the former fourth-round pick. That said, he is coming off a 2025 season in which he set career highs in catches (56) and receiving yards (560).
From a fantasy perspective, Okonkwo projects as a mid-range TE2 as long as Washington features him in the offense. With Terry McLaurin being the only established pass-catcher, Okonkwo has a chance to step into the most target volume he’s ever seen. If that happens, he would be an interesting selection late in drafts.
2026 Free Agency Losers
J.J. McCarthy (QB – Vikings)
If Murray is a winner, then obviously the guy who’s about to lose his job to him is a loser.
Maybe it’s unfair to cast aside J.J. McCarthy after only 10 NFL starts, but if I’m being honest, there weren’t many positives to draw from those games. The second-year signal-caller averaged a measly 163.2 passing yards per game, with 11 passing TDs and 12 interceptions. McCarthy also ranked near the bottom in almost every passing efficiency metric you can think of.
J.J. McCarthy‘s Accuracy Efficiency Metrics
Unless McCarthy beats out Murray in training camp, you can completely avoid him in redraft and best ball formats this year. Even if he does “win” the job, the proverbial leash will be short. No reason to put yourself through that headache.
In dynasty, it’s a different conversation. This is a great buying opportunity if you believe in him for the long haul. You can likely get him for a third-round rookie pick or as a throw-in as part of a larger deal at this point. Not much risk at that price; might be worth it just to see if he can turn it around in the future. After all, “Nine” is still just 23 years old.
Ben Sinnott (TE – Commanders)
“Stop it! You’re killing him. You’re killing him!” That’s what Ben Sinnott truthers probably yelled after Washington signed Okonkwo to a three-year deal.
I think we can now safely throw in the towel on Sinnott. He was a promising prospect when Washington selected him in the second round in 2024. But so far, all he’s accomplished through two seasons is 16 receptions for 142 yards and two TDs. For context, Kyle Pitts had 11 catches for 166 yards and three TDs in ONE GAME last year.
Ben Sinnott‘s Advanced Metrics
There was hope Sinnott would follow in the footsteps of Dallas Goedert and Trey McBride by breaking out once Zach Ertz left town, but it doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Okonkwo is reportedly getting up to $10 million per season — that’s definitely “starter money.”
Unless Okonkwo misses time, I don’t see how Sinnott sees the field much to make any splash in fantasy football. At this point, he’s become a roster-clogger and can be dropped to waivers. There’s no path to fantasy relevance without being traded.
David Njoku (TE – free agent)
A week into free agency, and David Njoku is one of the biggest names still unsigned. As of Monday, March 16, the former first-round pick had yet to find a new home after nine years with the Browns.
Njoku is too talented to remain unemployed for long, but it is a little telling that he wasn’t a priority add for any team at the beginning of free agency. He’ll likely latch on somewhere soon, but it stands to be a modest one-year deal rather than a multi-year contract some expected.
Keep an eye on his landing spot, though. From 2022 through 2024, Njoku posted three straight seasons as a top 8 tight end in fantasy points per game (FPPG). While the market is cold now, if he goes to a franchise and gets the starting job, he could still provide low-end TE1 fantasy production in 2026.
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Wolf Trelles-Heard is a fantasy football contributor for PlayerProfiler. Find him on X at @DynastyFFWolf.
