The Detroit Lions might be thinking about loading up at the tight end position after hiring Drew Petzing, who has been known to incorporate tight ends in his play-calling quite frequently. It means Sam LaPorta likely has a career-season to look forward to if he's healthy in 2026, and it means that Detroit has to be intentional about who they add as a TE2.
One Lions writer has proposed at least one viable option as a free agent signing on that front: New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger. The 25-year old is coming off his fourth season with the Giants, entering free agency and seeking his first deal after New York let his rookie contract expire.
His tidy connection to now-Lions coach Mike Kafka can make this reunion a lot more viable, which is why Brad Holmes should definitely have Bellinger on his radar.
Lions writer connects team to unexpected free agent
Efstathios Savvidis wrote of the benefit of signing Bellinger:
"Former offensive coordinator John Morton deservedly received the majority of the criticism for the offense’s horrendous play last year; Brad Holmes failed to acquire quality depth at tight end, and that proved to be costly. Once Sam LaPorta was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a back injury in Week 10, the Lions’ tight ends fell off a cliff."
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Detroit didn't have many tight ends that could get on the same page with Jared Goff consistently in the same way he did with LaPorta to kick off the 2025 season. Without that depth, and specifically without the blocking necessary to make up for the offensive line's deficiencies at run-blocking this past season, the team suffered.
Bellinger wrapped up his 2025 season with just 286 yards on 19 receptions and 26 targets. He's a true TE2, and possibly to the benefit of Detroit, isn't likely to be aggressively pursued by the Giants for a reunion in free agency.
Bellinger wouldn't command a huge contract in the same way that some other premiere, available tight ends in 2026 would. David Njoku, Dallas Goedert, and Kyle Pitts are likely to command deals upwards of $10 million per year, whereas Bellinger would probably only be anticipating something in the range of $3-5 million per year.
That's a proper TE2 salary, and it'd be perfect for the role he'd be expected to fill: be ready to start in place of LaPorta, who is nursing a back injury suffered in 2025, but be ready to mainly take snaps at TE2 and as an extra blocker.