Who Should I Start? AJ Barner or Cam Grandy

Wednesday, May 27, 6:11 PM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (undisclosed) was not taking part in the team's OTA practice on Wednesday while recovering from undisclosed offseason procedures, head coach Mike MacDonald told Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Barner started all 17 regular-season games in 2025 in his second year in the league, although he did battle through some ankle and shoulder injuries along the way to catch 52 of his 68 targets for 519 yards and six touchdowns. The 24-year-old former fourth-rounder in 2024 out of Michigan finished as the TE14 in half-PPR formats. He should be ready by the time training camp rolls around at the end of July, but Barner is no sure thing to repeat or exceed his numbers from his sophomore campaign with Elijah Arroyo still in the fold and reportedly taking a step forward in his development. If Arroyo earns more targets, as is expected, Barner could take a step back in Year 3. Barner is considered an offseason faller and has dropped to No. 28 in RotoBaller's fantasy TE rankings for the 2026 season.