The Washington Commanders have put themselves into a bind at tight end, where the current situation seems to be hurting the team more than helping it.
At the top of the depth chart is 35-year-old Zach Ertz, who has been one of Washington’s most reliable pass catchers the last 2 seasons.
Through 12 games this year, he’s second on the team with 70 receptions for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Ertz is playing on 1-year, $6.25 million contract and he’s shown no signs that point to the Commanders not bringing him back for another year if he doesn’t retire.
The top backup, John Bates, is arguably the NFL’s best blocking tight end. He signed a 3-year, $21 million contract in March. That’s a fortune for a backup tight end.
This is where the Commanders start to run into problems.
Washington spent a 2024 second round pick (No. 54 overall) on Kansas State tight end Ben Sinnott, who has been buried on the bench behind Ertz and Bates since the moment he came to town.
Through 2 seasons and 28 career games, Sinnott has just 8 receptions for 61 yards. He’s played in just 25 percent of Washington’s snaps on offense this season.
For the Commanders, who are 3-8, the time has come to trade Sinnott and try to get some value back for him — likely a Day 3 draft pick — before they’re eventually forced to release him outright.
Latest Loss is Latest Example of Sinnott’s Woes
If you want to know exactly how much Sinnott isn’t part of the Commanders’ plans, just look at the box score from their 27-26 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 13.
Washington quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 13 passes for 129 yards to 3 different tight ends against the Broncos, and none of them were Sinnott.
Even second year tight end Colson Yankoff, who made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2024, caught a pass.
Mariota targeted tight ends on 16 of his 50 pass attempts. Sinnott got zero targets.
“Ben Sinnott has to be the 1st dude to be a bust not because of injuries, poor performance and an insane player in front of him,” Commanders fan Dan Torino wrote on his official X account. “They just don’t use him, going into year 3 soon and we have no clue if he’s good or not. I believe he has the talent and can be our Trey McBride.”
If the Commanders can find a team desperate for a young tight end — maybe the Kansas City Chiefs — dealing Sinnott could be an option.
Sinnott Showed He Can Produce in College
In 3 seasons at Kansas State, Sinnott, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, had 82 receptions for 1,138 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, as well as 1 rushing touchdown. Sinnott’s 10 receiving touchdowns tied the school’s career record for tight ends.
He was also the highest-draft tight end for the Commanders since Fred Davis in the second round (No. 48 overall) of the 2008 NFL draft.
Even with all that being said, the Commanders just don’t use him. They drafted him, signed him to a 4-year, $7.2 million contract and stashed him away like a Euro League small forward drafted by an NBA team in the early 2000s.
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