Chris

Manhertz

Manhertz caught two passes for 16 yards for the Broncos last season, and was made a cap casualty by the team earlier this month. The veteran tight end who has totaled 26 receptions over an eight-year career is presumably joining the Giants as added depth and may need to compete for a roster spot in camp.

The release of Manhertz will save the Broncos $2.12 million in cap space, according to The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. Manhertz caught two passes for 16 yards in a limited role for the Broncos last season and was an expendable player for a Broncos team that needs to improve its cap situation after eating a record $84 million in dead cap to release Russell Wilson last week.

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey will miss the final game of the season after being placed on injured reserve late in the week. It’s his only absence since joining the team on a five-year contract in the offseason. Manhertz is the only Bronco out for injury reasons. Manhertz only served as a blocker in 2023, logging just two catches for 16 yards across 16 games.

New Broncos coach Sean Payton has always accumulated tight ends, and Manhertz is one of the better blocking specialists at the position. Now on the wrong side of 30, Manhertz won’t be catching many, if any, passes from Russell Wilson in 2023. He has 24 receptions across 104 career games.

The team also activated DT Malcom Brown, OL Andrew Norwell, DL Jihad Ward, and DT Davon Hamilton. Manhertz should draw the start at tight end as the Jags are down to him and Kahale Warring, who was signed earlier this week, at the position. The rest of their tight ends are either injured or on the COVID list. Despite the newfound role, Manhertz remains off the fantasy radar.

It was Farrell -- a rookie out of Ohio State -- who replaced James O’Shaughnessy (ankle) as Jacksonville’s primary pass-catching tight end against the Broncos. Farrell ran 20 pass routes while fellow TE Chris Manhertz ran 11. At Ohio State, Farrell was used as a blocking tight end, managing just 12 receptions in his final 22 collegiate games. He could find himself on the field, running a bunch of routes in a Jags offense that will continually be forced into pass-heavy game scripts.

Blocking TE Chris Manhertz made the headlines with his touchdown reception from Trevor Lawrence, but it was O’Shaughnessy who ran a hefty 39 pass routes to Manhertz’s eight routes against Houston. O’Shaughnessy could provide some fantasy value if the Jaguars are continually forced into negative, pass-heavy game script this year. He could be a streaming play next week against the Broncos.

Tebow on Twitter Tuesday morning thanks the team for a chance to make their 53-man roster. In what was likely his last foray in professional football, Tebow, 33, tried to make the team as a tight end. He lasted one preseason game in which he didn’t see a target. Signing his longtime buddy was always a questionable move by head coach Urban Meyer, whose first six months as an NFL coach have consisted of nonstop questionable decisions. Meyer said releasing Tebow was a “tough thing” but the “right thing.” CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, a former Jaguars beat writer, said Tuesday it “was obvious [Tebow] couldn’t play tight end. Any other coach doesn’t even give him a chance.” James O’Shaughnessy or Chris Manhertz will likely start the season as Jacksonville’s TE1.

Farrell, a four-start recruit, was the No. 7 tight end in the 2016 recruiting class. He was primarily used as a blocking tight end at Ohio State, recording a meager 12 receptions in his final 22 collegiate games. Farrell has 28th percentile speed among tight end. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler described Farrell as a “gritty, assignment-sound blocker, but his acceleration and playmaking skills are non-threatening.” Jacksonville has not addressed their gaping hole at tight end this offseason. Farrell joins fellow blocking tight end Chris Manhertz on the Jags’ depth chart, along with James O’Shaughnessy, who -- incredibly -- profiles as the team’s primary pass-catching tight end.

It’s a curious move for a front office that talked up improving the tight end room all winter. Manhertz, 29 next month, is a career backup who couldn’t manage to overtake the astoundingly ineffective Ian Thomas in Carolina last year. With 19 targets over 70 NFL games, Manhertz certainly doesn’t profile as a starter, but could be one if the Jaguars don’t add more dynamic tight ends in free agency and the draft. The team’s tight end depth chart includes James O’Shaughnessy, Josh Oliver, and now Manhertz. Jacksonville in February declined Tyler Eifert’s 2021 option.