Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets and Avoids: Tight Ends to Buy or Sell (2025)

March 16, 2025

John breaks down the fantasy football tight ends you should buy or sell ahead of the 2025 dynasty season. Which TEs should you avoid and which should you target in trades?

It's tough to find good tight ends in dynasty fantasy football. Unfortunately, it's also very easy to be stuck with one that sticks around in the doldrums of low production. Such is the case for many TEs, and even those who have good seasons here and there often lack consistency year over year.

It's not impossible to find good ones, but it's one position that consistently disappoints fantasy managers. Luckily, there are a lot of inaccurate rankings and incorrect thoughts floating around about many of the NFL's TEs, so you can capitalize by making moves and taking advantage of those.

Let's break down a few tight ends you should sell or buy ahead of the 2025 season in dynasty fantasy football.

Sell: Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

No matter how much he disappoints, how many bad plays he makes, how many times he gives up on routes, or how much pain and suffering he brings his fantasy managers, there are always plenty who want to come back for more. The good part about it is that if you still have him in dynasty, you can probably rip someone off by getting anything of value for him.

No matter who the quarterback is, Pitts will never be the priority in the passing offense while wide receiver Drake London is healthy. And Pitts showed us last season, yet again, that whichever quarterback plays is better off targeting anyone else who can catch passes.

mahomes when he throws the ball to kyle pittspic.twitter.com/mon6X6sqn8 https://t.co/e65WQofsny

— ‏۟ (@worknnnx) February 12, 2025

The horrible mistake the Falcons made of choosing him over wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and offensive tackle Penei Sewell shouldn't make you hang onto him. Draft capital is a good indicator of NFL success, but only generally. Pitts also hasn't looked the same since his MCL tear in 2022.

This may be holding him back even more. But if it is, he's had two years to recover from it now, and it seems to not be going well. There's still good value for him to be had, but it's in a trade, not by hanging onto him any longer.

Buy: Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears

Kmet will be 26 before the 2025 NFL season starts, so he's well in his prime. And while wide receiver Rome Odunze and quarterback Caleb Williams have both seen significant boosts to their fantasy value due to the arrival of new head coach Ben Johnson, Kmet hasn't seen similar enthusiasm, despite his talent.

He's not been a great option as a starter yet in his career, but consistently bad quarterback play and terrible offensive coaching are likely to blame. He's had a few blow-up games where he's flashed great potential, though those have been hidden in a sea of mediocrity.

Praying we see more of this between Caleb Williams and Cole Kmet next season & beyond. 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/TLSNP8536Y

— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) February 18, 2025

Kmet managers have been teased with the great plays and occasional good production, but never anything consistent. However, if you still have him, you should hang onto him, and he's worth making a move for at his current value. He's ranked similarly to TEs like Ja'Tavion Sanders, Cade Otton, and Isaiah Likely, which makes little sense.

If the Bears offense resembles anything like what the Lions were the past two years during Johnson's tenure there, Kmet could immediately become a must-start tight end for years to come. Of course, the team should probably ship off wide receiver Keenan Allen if Kmet is to be more consistent.

It will be important if the Bears keep him, but he's nearing the end of his career, anyway. It's possible that even if they retain him, he might not siphon many targets away from Kmet. You should go get No. 85 in any case.

Sell: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills

The best time to sell Kincaid was after 2023, but the fact that he has Josh Allen as his quarterback and that he had a few games with good target numbers convinced many fantasy managers that he could indeed still be better than Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta since he was chosen higher in the 2023 NFL Draft.

That turned out to be completely untrue. Even on a team that lacked a true WR1, Kincaid was a non-factor because he just isn't a very good tight end. He was the 12th-most-targeted tight end (on a per-game basis) in 2024, yet he averaged just 7.8 PPR points per game, 20th best among TEs.

Dalton Kincaid will be remembered as a hilarious waste of a 5th round fantasy pick and an even more egregious waste of a 1st round NFL draft pickpic.twitter.com/dveH7ZoQSq

— Sam Sherman (@Sherman_FFB) January 27, 2025

He was supposed to develop nicely and break out in Year 2. Instead, in many ways, he looked like the same player, yet in others, he looked even worse. He was a bust of an NFL Draft pick and a horrible player to choose with a somewhat early pick in fantasy football drafts.

Yet, he's ranked in the top 10 of dynasty/keeper league tight-end rankings. That makes absolutely no sense. The Bills had to bring in WR Amari Cooper because their pass-catching room was seriously lacking in talent, and that was after they drafted wideout Keon Coleman, though he did miss some time due to injury.

Buffalo has Cooper, Coleman, WR Khalil Shakir, and running back James Cook, all of whom are easily better players for Allen to target than Kincaid. It's unlikely that will change -- in fact, Coleman showed flashes before his wrist injury and should develop further, leaving Kincaid further behind.

Coming out of college, one of the most important parts of Dalton Kincaid's game was his soft hands.

He didn't disappoint his rookie season with a drop rate of just 4.4%. BUT, the past two weeks he has a drop rate of 30.8%.

He must be better for the #Bills. pic.twitter.com/Hp99HV2En3

— Hänsel (@UberHansen) October 11, 2024

And now, his drops have become a hideous problem that could seriously vex him moving forward. And he'll be a curse to have on your dynasty fantasy football rosters. He's like Kyle Pitts 2.0 but less talented (initially), and the fact that the Bills made a bad mistake drafting him shouldn't convince you to hang onto him any longer. Ship him off.

The fact that you can trade him for Kmet and draft picks in some leagues is hilarious. Kmet is ranked as the No. 21 tight end by FantasyPros.

Buy: Ben Sinnott, TE, Washington Commanders

TE Zach Ertz is 34 years old and will turn 35 in November. It's fine to take a shot on Sinnott in the hopes that he develops into something useful down the road, given how cheap he is. Tight ends take a while to develop in the NFL, and sometimes they become good fantasy players after one or two years of experience.

Ben Sinnott may not have had the rookie season we expected, but with veteran Zach Ertz possibly on his way out, Sinnott could be a promising option for dynasty fantasy football teams looking for a cheap young TE with upside! pic.twitter.com/9DNori9Gt7

— Dynasty Nerds (@DynastyNerds) February 17, 2025

His rookie season stats are pretty much nonexistent, and it was apparently the result of both tight ends John Bates and Ertz being better role players than he was. But as the linked article states, it's not uncommon to see rookie TEs do very little, then develop and carve out nice roles.

In TEP leagues, it might be worth making a move for him and acquiring him for very cheap from a disillusioned manager who bought into the hype and propaganda surrounding him before the season.

More Fantasy Football Analysis