John Fitzpatrick

Career StatsD-

Year	Team	GP	Rec	Yards	TD
Career		33	14	86	1
2025		15	12	72	1
2024		9	1	2	0
2023		9	1	12

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The John Fitzpatrick signing represents a minimal-risk flyer that barely registers on the overpay spectrum, earning a D CVI grade primarily due to his unproven track record rather than any glaring financial misstep. At $1.5M AAV with just $100K guaranteed, this is essentially a camp body contract for a tight end who hasn't established himself as even a replacement-level NFL contributor. The structure heavily favors the signing team with virtually no dead money risk, making it the type of low-stakes depth move that costs nothing to cut loose if Fitzpatrick can't crack the roster. While the minimal guaranteed money suggests front offices view him as a long shot to make meaningful contributions, the one-year term provides a clean exit strategy without any lingering cap implications. This deal reflects what it is — a lottery ticket on an unproven commodity where the financial downside is negligible even if the football upside remains highly questionable.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the D band — a quick read on where John's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Stacked against the TE field, John Fitzpatrick grades out at a D- performance level for Free Agent. A fourth-year player out of the 2022 sixth round (pick 213), Fitzpatrick has failed to translate draft positioning into meaningful on-field production, and his 2025 season—72 receiving yards across 15 games—underscores a ceiling that sits well below starter or even reliable backup expectation at a position that demands consistent red-zone and intermediate-route productivity. His limited yardage total reflects minimal route-running opportunities or inefficiency when targeted, either of which signals a player unable to command offensive attention from his quarterback. The fact that Fitzpatrick appeared in 15 games without accumulating even 100 yards in a pass-heavy league suggests either snap constraints, poor separation, or both—none of which projects as correctable weaknesses at age 26 in his fourth professional season. Entering free agency on his expiring rookie-scale deal at $1.5M, he now faces an uphill market where teams default to cheaper developmental prospects or proven contributors rather than fourth-year journeymen with sub-replacement statistical footprints. Without a catalyst move—scheme fit with a run-heavy offense, injury opportunity, or unexpected organizational endorsement—Fitzpatrick's trajectory appears locked into the backup-to-practice-squad tier, where marginal NFL employment remains possible but meaningful career momentum does not.

How John Compares at the Position

John Fitzpatrick ranks 143rd of 164 graded tight ends by performance. That slots John between Colson Yankoff (D) just ahead and Ko Kieft (D-) just behind.

Current Sentiment

John Fitzpatrick enters the 2026 offseason with a D sentiment grade, and frankly, the narrative around him is almost nonexistent — which is its own kind of verdict. The media framing tells the full story: a sixth-round pick out of 2022 who has logged 72 receiving yards across 15 games in the 2025 season, Fitzpatrick generates no headlines, no contract buzz, and no organizational advocacy that would signal a team views him as anything beyond a roster-filler option. That near-total media silence is entirely consistent with an F performance grade — when production is this limited at the tight end position, there simply isn't a hook for reporters or fans to latch onto. Now a free agent at 26, he enters the open market without the leverage of a recent breakout, a notable scheme fit, or any public momentum from team interest that might shift the conversation in a more optimistic direction. The bottom line is blunt: Fitzpatrick sits squarely in the backup-to-practice-squad tier of NFL tight ends, and without a dramatic reinvention of his game or a fortunate landing spot with minimal depth competition, the narrative around his career appears to be fading rather than building toward anything meaningful.