Who Should I Start? Durham Smythe or Jared Wiley

Thursday, March 6, 2:33 PM

The Chicago Bears signed former Miami Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe to a one-year deal on Thursday, according to NFL.com. The former fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame has played his entire seven-year career with Miami but was released this offseason. Overall, the 28-year-old has hauled in 132 receptions for 1,228 yards and three touchdowns in 112 career games. Smythe is best utilized as a blocker, and with Chicago trading for former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Jonah Jackson and former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Joe Thuney, it's evident they want to improve quickly in run and pass blocking. Smythe could help Chicago's offense in 2025 under new head coach Ben Johnson, but he's unlikely to be on the fantasy football radar.

Wednesday, June 18, 12:52 PM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Jared Wiley (knee) is participating in individual drills at mandatory minicamp this week while wearing a brace on his surgically-repaired right knee. The fact that Wiley is even taking part in offseason workouts at all is pretty impressive after he suffered a torn ACL last November. The 24-year-old is doing well in his recovery, but he still may not be fully ready for training camp this summer or the start of the 2025 regular season in September. The former fourth-rounder (131st overall) last year will merely be competing for the No. 3 tight end spot with Robert Tonyan when he's fully healthy as depth behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray. In his first year in the NFL with the Chiefs in 2024, Wiley only appeared in seven regular-season games (two starts) and caught his only target for seven yards. He's nowhere near the fantasy radar.