Sometimes, the best free agent pickups around the NFL are the players almost nobody is talking about. You don't need to spend the most money in free agency to find the best bang for your buck, although the Tennessee Titans dipped their feet into both pools during 2026 free agency.
The Titans made some high-profile, big-money additions to the roster, but they also found some budget-friendly options that might have a bigger payoff than anyone realizes. One of their most shrewd additions in the 2026 offseason was tight end Daniel Bellinger, a player entering his fifth season after being selected by the New York Giants during Brian Daboll's first year as head coach of the team.
Bellinger has not exactly emerged as one of the premier tight ends in the league over the last four seasons, but his contributions have been super underrated, and he's still just 25 years old.
Considering the upward trajectory of the Titans, the breakout potential of Cam Ward, and the presence of Daboll as the Titans' offensive coordinator, Bellinger might finally be able to show what the Giants were never able to unlock.
Daniel Bellinger could be primed for a major breakthrough in first year with Tennessee Titans
The Titans signed Bellinger to a three-year deal worth $24 million in total money, and just over $14 million in guarantees. He hasn't reached even 20 receptions in either of the past two seasons with the Giants, but maximized his targets this past season to the tune of 15.1 yards per reception.
Bellinger has a career passer rating when targeted of 116.0, and has caught a whopping 83 percent of his 106 career targets.
The Titans obviously paid a good amount to get Bellinger, but the numbers suggest that his career production is more of a result of the Giants' inability to find stability at the quarterback position than anything else. And that could end up making him a major steal from this year's free agency crop.
After the potential he showed in his rookie season, every Titans fan is understandably excited about 2nd-year player Gunnar Helm. He caught 44 passes for 357 yards and a pair of touchdowns last year. But NFL teams are working more and more out of 12 personnel (2 TEs), and that's something we can expect a lot more of with the Titans' offense in 2026.
Running 12 personnel was not a staple for Brian Callahan, but Daboll used it over 32 percent of the time with the Giants.
Bellinger gives the Titans an auxiliary weapon Cam Ward can trust. He can be a big-play threat at the position, or a reliable outlet with only 3 drops in his entire NFL career to this point.
It won't be long before the Titans start getting Bellinger involved to the point that Giants fans wonder why he couldn't do that when he was in New York.
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