After a long offseason and over a month of hype out of training camp and the preseason slate, Week 1 of the 2026 NFL regular season has arrived. It’s about at this time that dynasty leagues really pick up steam as fantasy managers make last-minute moves to perfect their lineups before the full schedule kicks off.
If you’ve been playing the format for a while, you know the drill. Whether buying, selling, or just playing the market, there are always transactions to be made in dynasty fantasy football. Here are the best buy candidates to trade for at the tight end position as the new season begins.
Best tight end buys to trade for in dynasty fantasy football
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills (TE12)
There’s an abundance of young talent at tight end, but we’re looking a little further beyond the top two tiers to find better value as a buy candidate. One name who stands out is Dalton Kincaid, who carried significant hype when he entered the NFL in 2023 but hasn’t lived up to those expectations just yet. Granted, it hasn’t entirely been his fault that he’s yet to enter the upper echelon – injuries have been an inseparable part of his profile for years now.
Kincaid was a first-round pick by the Bills even despite the red flag of a back injury suffered at the end of his collegiate career. Ever since entering the pros, his knees have given him some problems while also dealing with a hamstring issue last year – he played 16 games as a rookie but was limited to 13 and 12 contests in each of the last two years. When healthy, though, he’s largely been a steady weapon for Josh Allen in Buffalo’s offense. He had 673 yards on 73 catches in his debut season, and even despite missing five games, he still posted 39 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns in 2025. His fantasy output wasn’t anything too flashy with 10.5 FPPG in PPR formats, but it was enough to finish as the per-game TE15. Is there something there we can capitalize on?
The issue with Kincaid’s profile beyond health has always been poor blocking, which has kept other tight ends like Dawson Knox on the field for the Bills’ run-heavy attack. However, the coaching staff talked up his improvement in that area this offseason, and with Joe Brady promoted to head coach, there’s a decent chance he could see a bump in usage in 2026. Kincaid’s 14.6 yards per reception ranked fourth among all tight ends last season and his average of 6.6 yards after the catch also ranked on the higher side. If he can stay on the field more this year, then the additional snaps could certainly translate to a few more targets and scoring opportunities.
The addition of wideout D.J. Moore does mean that the Bills have found a pass-catching weapon they’ll likely funnel significant volume to, but given Kincaid’s efficiency, he doesn’t need a ton of targets to put up starter-worthy numbers. The key to improvement here is simply more snaps, which it seems he’s in line to receive. That makes him a nice buy candidate with upside, and as the dynasty TE12 in KeepTradeCut’s crowdsourced rankings, he’s a name who doesn’t command an expensive price tag via trade.
Eli Raridon, New England Patriots (TE27)
Looking outside the top-24 names in the KTC dynasty rankings, we have rookie Eli Raridon at TE27. If you’re wondering where you recognize that name from, it’s likely from one of two sources – either his days at Notre Dame or from the opening game of this regular season, which took place just a few days ago on Wednesday.
Raridon rang in the start of the new campaign by scoring the first touchdown of 2026, a two-yard grab on the back corner of the end zone which he hauled in without a defender in sight. Is it cheating to put him on this list after he’s already appeared in a contest this year? Perhaps, but he’s worth the selection.
The Patriots drafted Raridon in the third round back in April. That pick was something of a surprise compared to expectations that he may go a little bit later, but the draft capital is a welcome sight for our purposes. His draft profile was excellent, to say the least. He scored an unofficial 9.81 RAS out of a possible 10.0, which ranked 27th out of 1,356 tight ends since 1987 in the athletic testing database. That was because he ran a 4.62 40-yard dash with a 36-inch vertical at 6-foot-6, though he’s not too bulky at just 245 pounds. In his final season at Notre Dame, he emerged as a starter and caught 32 passes for 482 yards, though he didn’t record a touchdown. The lack of a score isn’t a major knock on his profile though, as he still ranked eighth in production score among his position in the 2026 draft class. For what it’s worth, the Fighting Irish have also cranked out seven NFL tight ends over the last nine seasons, too.
There’s a lot to like about Raridon’s physical traits and his ability to catch the football. It seems New England’s coaching staff feels the same way after he locked down the TE2 job on the depth chart behind Hunter Henry. In the season opener, he played 54% of snaps, though his touchdown was his lone target of the evening. This isn’t a buy we’re making for immediate production, but in the long run, he could become a staple of a Patriots offense quarterbacked by Drake Maye. I’d love to acquire the athletic tight end at the price tag of his dynasty TE27 ranking.
