Who Should I Start? Trey McBride or Colston Loveland

Thursday, April 3, 4:43 PM

The Arizona Cardinals are making Pro Bowl tight end Trey McBride the highest-paid tight end in NFL history with a four-year, $76 million contract extension on Thursday, according to his agents. The deal includes $43 million guaranteed and a $19 million average per year, which is the highest ever for any NFL tight end. The 25-year-old former second-rounder (55th overall) in 2022 out of Colorado State was a first-time Pro Bowler in 2024 while setting career-highs in receptions (111), targets (147), receiving yards (1,146) in 16 games. Despite only finding the end zone two times, McBride still finished as the TE2 in standard scoring in his third year in the league, with his 111 catches falling just one short of Brock Bowers' 112 for the league lead. He should score more in 2025 in his fourth year in the NFL, making him an elite TE1 target for fantasy managers.

Tuesday, July 29, 7:24 PM

The Athletic's Kevin Fishbain writes that rookie first-round tight end Colston Loveland is doing it all in training camp practices and "has already looked the part." Head coach Ben Johnson said that Colston's instincts showed up right away, and he's also proved that his surgically-repaired shoulder is just fine. The 21-year-old was eased into training camp after having offseason surgery, but it appears he's made up for lost time and is impressing as both a pass-catcher and blocker early on. Fishbain writes that he also expects Loveland to gain more chemistry with quarterback Caleb Williams the more they work together. The Bears drafted Loveland 10th overall for a reason, and he has the kind of upside that we saw with Brock Bowers in Vegas a year ago. However, there are plenty of mouths to feed in Chicago and he'll battle for targets next to Cole Kmet. Loveland should be considered a midrange TE2 with upside.