The Green Bay Packers have handed out three extensions this offseason. The most expensive one is still coming. That is according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.
Kraft enters 2026 in the final year of his rookie contract, and Schneidman wrote Monday that the 2023 third-round pick is the obvious next man up after Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Devonte Wyatt were all taken care of. Schneidman went considerably further than that on Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the highest paid tight end in the league here in the next couple weeks,” Schneidman said on The Pat McAfee Show.
That would be a big number. It would also be a big bet, because Kraft has not played in a game since Week 9 of last season.
Where Tucker Kraft Would Rank Among Highest-Paid Tight Ends
The tight end market has moved fast, and the top of it is stacked at a very specific number.
George Kittle sits atop everyone else at No. 1 at $19.1 million per year on the four-year, $76.4 million extension he signed in San Francisco, per Spotrac. Trey McBride is slightly behind at $19 million on a four-year, $76 million deal in Arizona. Kyle Pitts joined that tier in June, agreeing with Atlanta on a three-year, $54 million contract that pays $18 million annually with $36 million fully guaranteed. T.J. Hockenson is next at $16.5 million in Minnesota.
Then it falls off a cliff.
Isaiah Likely ranks fifth at roughly $13.3 million per season, with Mark Andrews at $13.089 million and Pat Freiermuth around $12.1 million. There is nearly a $6 million gap between the fourth-highest-paid tight end and the fifth.
So the real question is not whether Kraft gets paid. It is whether Green Bay puts him in the $19 million club or prices him into the canyon below it.
Schneidman suggested Kraft could reset the market outright. Kraft believed he was the best tight end in football when he went down last season, and the production before the injury supports the argument. Through the first eight weeks of 2025, he ranked third among tight ends in receiving yards, second in touchdown catches and first in yards after catch per reception. He blocks, too.
Tucker Kraft Expects To Play Week 1 Against The Vikings
The complication is the knee.
Kraft tore his ACL in Week 9 and has spent the offseason working his way back. He told the McAfee show he expects to be on the field for the opener against Minnesota.
He is not alone in that rehab group. Wyatt broke his fibula and tore ankle ligaments in Week 13, and Zach Tom partially tore his patellar tendon in Week 15. Schneidman reported all three should be ready for Week 1, with Wyatt and Tom cleared to practice Wednesday. Kraft has stayed coy, saying at his youth camp recently that everyone will find out when they show up to the field.
That leaves Brian Gutekunst with a timing problem rather than a valuation one. Paying Kraft before he takes a snap costs more and erases whatever leverage the injury created. Waiting until he proves the knee holds up is cheaper right until the moment he plays well, at which point it is not.
Kraft turns 26 in November. Green Bay has already shown this offseason that it would rather pay early than negotiate late.
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