Chig Okonkwo signs with the Washington Commanders: 2026 Fantasy Football Impact
Welcome to our continued coverage of NFL Free Agency transactions, as Chig Okonkwo signs with the Washington Commanders. Read along as I give you my breakdown of its 2026 Fantasy Football Impact!
TE Chig Okonkwo is headed to the NFC and signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the Washington Commanders. This might seem like a lot for Okonkwo at first glance, but Washington is clearly paying him based on what he CAN BE rather than what he has or has not done in the NFL up to this point, and fantasy managers should be taking note of that. If you ask me, not enough people are talking about this move right now.
Chig Okonkwo cannot be stopped!
— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2025
NOvsTEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/vrs4HBP8yx
I’ve said this before, but I still cannot quit Chig Okonkwo, as he is a high-level tools, hyper-athletic TE. Even though Okonkwo has never fully lived up to his potential in the NFL, it is not totally his fault. The player has dealt with bad QB play his entire career in Tennessee (except for last season with Cam Ward), and he has never gotten a full amount of playing time. In 2025, rookie Gunnar Helm played 54% of snaps for the Titans, and Chig Okonkwo played 63% of snaps… they both ate into each other’s production and playing time.
Even on a limited snap share, though, the young, versatile TE still impressed, as the player had 78 targets last season and had an absurd 83% contested catch rate. He also ranked 2nd in yards after the catch per reception, and 2nd in missed tackles forced per reception amongst TEs that ran at least 300 routes in 2025 as well, per the Fantasy Points Data Suite. This is a player whose talent is much better than his playing time/opportunity would initially suggest.
Let’s look at the Commanders’ history with TEs over the last two years with Jayden Daniels at QB. Zach Ertz had 88 and 71 targets in 2024 and 2025, respectively, so Daniels clearly likes to utilize his TEs quite a bit over the middle of the field. For more context, Ertz had a 56.8% slot rate last season, and Chig Okonkwo had a 46% slot rate last season. The two have very similar skill sets, and both project well to this Washington offense. Okonkwo is a direct one-for-one replacement at TE for both the franchise and fantasy managers.
Given Washington’s strong history with TEs over the last couple of years and the team’s lack of passing-game weapons outside of Terry McLaurin, I would definitely advocate for taking a late-round shot on a hyper-athletic TE like Chig Okonkwo. The upside alone is obvious here, to me at least.