Tucker Kraft Set to Reset Tight-End Market After Latest Contract Benchmarks

The tight-end market has come into even greater focus during a notoriously slow period in NFL contract negotiations, with Atlanta and Jacksonville securing their starting tight ends to similar deals this week.

Those deals, for Kyle Pitts with the Falcons (effectively $54M for three years) and for Brenton Strange with the Jaguars ($48M for three years), provide both a template and a springboard, financially, for Tucker Kraft. 

Kraft has been better and more consistent than both of those cohorts. He wins downfield and has a deep connection with highly-paid quarterback Jordan Love on a team where the offense tends to be quite spread around, and he was emerging into a true star before tearing his ACL midseason.

While there was certainly some intrigue as to whether or not Pitts would end up back with the Falcons long-term when they placed the franchise tag on him, rival franchises have taken it as a fait accompli that Kraft would be in Green Bay throughout the prime of his career. 

Going with a three-year structure, which has become the norm increasingly, could make sense, but at this point, there is far more uncertainty about what this deal looks like than whether or not it gets done.

Injury Shouldn’t Be a Roadblock

Kraft is on his way back from his knee injury, and the team believes he is on pace to resume his role this season, league sources indicated. 

The Packers have a strong history of retaining their best young players, including recently with oft-injured receiver Christian Watson, and rival executives believe it’s unlikely the Packers would have made that deal without having a sense of what Kraft will cost and how he fits in their budget.

Kraft is set to make just $3.7M this season on his rookie contract.

“That’s the next domino to fall (at tight end),” one personnel executive opined.