The Washington Commanders got 2 unexpectedly great seasons from veteran tight end Zach Ertz in 2024 and 2025 — long after his “expired by” date and a great value with a pair of 1-year contracts totaling just $9.25 million.
After Ertz suffered a devastating knee injury late in the 2025 regular season, the Commanders turned to free agency in 2026, signing Tennessee Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo to a 3-year, $27 million contract after he’d seemed on the verge of becoming a true-blue star over the last few years.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay put Okonkwo at the top of his list of the NFL’s best “free-agent steals” headed into the regular season
“Scoring the skilled but inconsistent Chig Okonkwo on a three-year, $27 million deal was one of the better low-risk, high-reward moves of the offseason,” Kay wrote. “Okonkwo flashed plenty of potential after being taken in the fourth round of the 2022 draft by the Tennessee Titans, but never took the type of leap he appeared capable of. His career-highs of 56 catches, 560 receiving yards and three touchdowns aren’t terrible, but there has always been the sense that the tight end is capable of much more. Okonkwo could finally break out now that he’s moved to the nation’s capital.”
Okonkwo’s Big Numbers on Terrible Teams
In 4 seasons, Okonkwo has career numbers of 194 receptions for 2,017 yards and 8 touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s 5th among all NFL tight ends over the last 4 seasons with 39 missed tackles forced.
Okonkwo, 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, spent his first 4 seasons on the Titans playing for increasingly worse teams — and for 3 different head coaches. Tennessee went 7-10 in 2022, 6-11 in 2023, and 3-14 in 2024 and 2025.
As a senior at Maryland in 2021, Okonkwo had career highs of 52 receptions for 447 yards and 5 touchdowns. In an interesting twist, Okonkwo is wearing No. 85 with the Commanders — the same number former Maryland star and Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis wore with the Commanders from 2016 to 2019.
“Washington gets their TE1,” Commanders superfan Jay Daniels MVP wrote on X.
“The Commanders land an athletic tight end who provides a different look from that position,” ESPN’s John Keim wrote on X.
“Commanders land pass-catching TE in Chig Okonkwo … 26 (years old), 50+ catches last 2 seasons. Played college ball at UMD. Really strong option to help Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin and the run game,” NBC Sports’ JP Finlay wrote on his official X account.
“Commanders land Chig Okonkwo,” 106.7-FM’s Grant Paulsen wrote on X. “Love this so much. This is a big-time weapon for Jayden Daniels. Huge splash. Changes FA return considerably.”
Chig Okonkwo Tops List of ‘Breakout Candidates’
Okonkwo topped the list of “Breakout Candidates” for the Commanders in 2026 from Covering the Commanders’ Josh Taylor.
“I think Chig has been great so far in his career, but there’s that untapped ceiling that just hasn’t been hit yet,” Taylor said on June 8. “I think with Washington, you see exactly why he wanted to come here. He looked at the tight end room and saw John Bates and Ben Sinnott, and those are tight ends that really don’t catch the ball and really just block. (Okonkwo) is going to go in the slot, he’s going to go into motion … we saw him run a whip route at OTAs. I’m excited to see what Chig can do in this offense, and they’re going to use him as a weapon. I also think he’s underrated as a blocker. Chig will demand targets.”
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