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Craig's tight end (TE) fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 10 of 2025. His top TE fantasy football pickups, free agents to add, tight end streamers.
Another week, another bevy of NFL teams on bye.
Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Dallas’ Jake Ferguson highlight the tight ends who will be off this week, so there will be many fantasy general managers in need of one-week fill-ins at the position. That is not counting Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft, who left Sunday’s game with what seemed like a serious knee injury.
As the season wears on and players get picked up, though, the tight end talent pool on league waiver wires starts shrinking. While the pickings may be getting slimmer than a string bean, there are still some tight ends available in your league that could help you this week and in future weeks. Here are the top candidates to pick up on fantasy waiver wires heading into Week 10, starting with a rookie who is finally blossoming in Chicago.
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Top Tight Ends to Pick Up - Week 10 Waiver Wire
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
Colston Loveland had not been as exciting of a rookie as Los Angeles’ Oronde Gadsden II, Indianapolis’ Tyler Warren, or Cleveland’s Harold Fannon Jr. entering Week 9, but that all changed during Chicago’s shootout win over the defensively-challenged Cincinnati Bengals.
COLSTON LOVELAND 58 YARDS! WOW! pic.twitter.com/JRZOV8ih3J
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
Loveland made his mark by delivering a six-catch, 118-yard, two-TD effort in the victory, highlighted by a game-winning 58-yard score where he barreled over defensive backs and outran Cincy’s secondary to reach the end zone. The time is now for Loveland, and the time is now for fantasy managers to pick him up.
Let’s see what he can do for an encore at home this weekend against the 23rd-ranked pass defense of the New York Giants.
Other Tight Ends to Consider Adding
Theo Johnson, New York Giants
Theo Johnson is scoring touchdowns like he is LaDainian Tomlinson circa 2006. New York’s talented tight end has five touchdowns over his past six games and has vaulted to the top of Jaxson Dart’s red-zone target list.
Theo Johnson powers in for the Giants TD!
SFvsNYG on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/wFZARJG1Cy
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
The touchdown trips should not stop this week as Johnson faces a Chicago defense that just allowed 600-year-old Joe Flacco to throw for 470 yards against it this past Sunday. With WR Malik Nabers (knee) and RB Cam Skattebo (ankle) out with season-ending injuries, Johnson is one of the few playmakers left for the Giants, and he will be counted upon heavily the rest of the way.
Harold Fannin, Jr., Cleveland Browns
Cleveland’s bye came at the wrong time for sensational rookie Harold Fannin Jr., who has 21 receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the month leading up to his week off. He should be refreshed and re-energized to rack up serious fantasy points this weekend against the 1-7 New York Jets. Fannin will rack up even more if tight end teammate David Njoku gets sent packing at the trade deadline.
Fannin cannot be ranked as high as Johnson in this section of the column because he plays with an inferior quarterback and is not scoring touchdowns at the clip Johnson is these days. But Fannin remains one of the top-three available tight ends in many fantasy leagues and should only perform better as the games in fantasy leagues become more crucial.
Do Not Forget About…
A.J. Barner, Seattle Seahawks
A.J. Barner has proven that Loveland is not the only young Michigan product who is a fantasy force at the tight end position this year. After catching four touchdown passes already on the season, Barner ran for a short TD in Seattle’s Sunday night blowout win over Washington. Barner should keep rolling against Arizona’s 24th-ranked pass defense this Sunday.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
New quarterback, better fantasy value? That might be the case for Juwan Johnson. The burly pass catcher has now posted three good games in a row for fantasy managers, and has Tyler Shough helming the offense. Shough seems more solid in the ball security department than Spencer Rattler was. Hopefully, that bodes well for Johnson going forward.
Kyle Pitts Sr., Atlanta Falcons
It would be nice if Michael Penix Jr. looked at someone other than Drake London inside the red zone. That said, I think we all have to realize that Pitts is not going to become the All-World tight end we believed he would, at least not in Atlanta. While Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers lived up to his lofty potential quickly, Pitts can only give fantasy managers 35-65 yards per week, with maybe a touchdown a month if you are lucky.
Mason Taylor. New York Jets
You never know what you are going to get from Justin Fields, Mason Taylor, and the Jets offense from week to week. There are just too many variables, and most of them are bad. Taylor has been targeted at least five times in five of his last six contests, however. I think he has to be picked up in deeper leagues due to the upside he has shown.
David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
The second-best tight end on Cleveland’s roster might end up being the TE1 on another team during the week if the Browns have a fire sale and finally send David Njoku away for a draft pick or two. Njoku’s fantasy value has a low ceiling because Fannin is in his way, but a trade where he becomes the starter again will boost his worth tenfold.
Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers
With Kraft suffering his knee injury on Sunday, it is “next man up” time in Green Bay. That man is Luke Musgrave, who was actually drafted ahead of Kraft in the same NFL draft the year they both came out of college. Kraft overtook Musgrave on the depth chart when the latter was injured last year and never looked back.
Now, maybe Musgrave can turn the tables on his teammate and get starter stats while filling for Kraft.
Noah Fant, Cincinnati Bengals
Noah Fant keeps chugging along as the tight end who catches the seven-yard passes in Cincinnati’s offense, while wonderful wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins catch the passes downfield for long gains and touchdowns. So his fantasy value is certainly limited. Being on bye this week and battling Tanner Hudson for tight end targets does not help, either, but Fant is still a solid get as a TE2 if other options are not available.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pat Freiermuth has bounded back ahead of Jonnu Smith as Pittsburgh’s most valuable fantasy tight end after supplying 151 receiving yards and three touchdowns over the Steelers’ past three games. The good news is he is finally clicking with Aaron Rodgers. The bad news is he has to find room against the Los Angeles Chargers’ third-ranked pass defense this Sunday night.
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
It comes as no surprise that as soon as Lamar Jackson got back on the field, Isaiah Likely’s fantasy value went from zero to back to normal. The season-high 60 yards he piled up against Miami’s hapless defense showed that he is back in full form. But until Mark Andrews is out of the way in Baltimore, Likely’s fantasy worth will always be held back.
2026 might finally be the year he breaks out big time.
Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
Houston’s top tight end has now topped the 60-yard mark in three of his last outings and had a sweet 47-yard catch against Denver’s staunch secondary on Sunday. Fantasy managers need Dalton Schultz to stick his helmet in the end zone, though. He has zero touchdowns in eight games this season and has only scored twice in 2024.
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