If you haven’t read any of my other work about players to buy in dynasty fantasy football, we’ve covered running back, wide receiver, and quarterback. Now it’s time to dive into the tight ends.
As always, we’ll be targeting players who can provide value to any dynasty team, no matter what stage you’re in. For that reason, we’ll be looking at three young players who should increase in value from the current market price.
In order to get a baseline for these market prices, we’ll refer to Keep Trade Cut. With that being said, let’s dive into the article.
Trade for These TEs in Dynasty Fantasy Football
1. Kyle Pitts (KTC Rank: TE12)
A lot of people are going to be scared away from Kyle Pitts, and that’s totally understandable. Since coming into the league with high expectations, Pitts has let fantasy owners down every single year.
That being said, the upside is worth the risk. Pitts is going at the TE12 range, and you’re not going to find a difference maker outside the top five in most seasons.
If Pitts can finally break out this season, there’s a very good chance he becomes a top three tight end dynasty. Just looking back to November 3rd of 2021, Pitts was able to keep his TE1 status all the way through October 2nd of 2022.
When evaluating Pitts as a prospect, he was just as good, if not better, than Brock Bowers, who is the 10th-ranked player (TE1) in dynasty fantasy football. Pitts is a 6’6” and 246 lb tight end who also ran an unofficial 4.44, 40-yard dash.
At Florida, Pitts showed that he can play anywhere on the field with elite releases and the ability to high-point the football. With Pitts being a younger prospect, he’s still just 24 years old, and tight ends typically take longer to break out due to the complex nature of the position.
Now Darnell Mooney is missing valuable time with sophomore quarterback Michael Penix Jr, giving Pitts time to take over that number two target role. It’s certainly a risk based on what we’ve seen from Pitts so far, but the upside is worth it.
2 Michael Mayer (KTC Rank: TE33)
Outside of Pitts, these last two players are outside of the top 30 tight ends. While Pitts is fairly cheap, these other tight ends are effectively lottery tickets.
Michael Mayer is one of the more interesting players in dynasty because he’s also only 24 years old. Mayer wasn’t an elite prospect, but he was highly talked about and was selected 35th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
While Mayer got to start 12 games as a rookie, he didn’t find much success, only drawing 40 targets, catching 27 of them for 304 yards. Then, just a year later, the Las Vegas Raiders shocked a lot of people by selecting Bowers.
We talked about how good Bowers is above, and this move tanked Mayer’s dynasty value. Mayer was once the TE8 in dynasty (April 8th, 2023) and has now dropped down to TE33.
While Mayer isn’t going to overcome Bowers, he’s set to become a free agent in 2027, which could lead to the Raiders trading him even sooner than that. If Mayer lands in a new home, he should skyrocket in value as people will remember the prospect that he was at Notre Dame.
3. Oronde Gadsden (KTC Rank: TE34)
The last player on this list is Oronde Gadsden, a rookie. Gadsden is going just behind Mayer at TE34, but he has the worst draft capital of anyone on this list.
Gadsden was a 5th-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft due to the fact that he’s not a typical tight end. At 6’5” and 236 lbs, Gadsden is very undersized in terms of his weight to be an NFL starter.
Gadsden fails to pick up blockers due to his size, which is going to limit him in the NFL. That said, Gadsden could be used as a “big slot,” which would be the best-case scenario for his fantasy football impact.
At Syracuse, Gadsden actually started out as a wide receiver, and he caught 61 passes for 975 yards as a sophomore. Gadsden would make the switch just one year later, before only playing in two games during that 2023 season.
In 2024, though, Gadsden had 73 catches for 934 yards as a tight end. Gadsden would post a 4.65, 40-yard dash, which helped him score a “great” composite speed score per his Relative Athletic Score.
The Los Angeles Chargers are an offense without an established number two target, which makes Gadsden extremely interesting. Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston are the two main threats right now, but neither has proven themselves yet.
With Justin Herbert at the helm, he should be able to get the most out of Gadsden. If Gadsden isn’t used correctly, he’ll almost certainly flame out, but at cost, he’s worth the risk in dynasty fantasy football.