My tie rod boots were shot and there was way too much movement in the tie rod so I took the old ones off and was ready to replace until seeing the shape of my tie rod end.
My first reaction was this doesn’t seem right, could use a second opinion here!
This tie rod is bad. First, it has a damaged boot. This will cause iminate failure. Second, there was movement in the tie rod. Either one of these conditions warrant replacement. Moving it with your thumb has no bearing on the condition of a tie rod.
Yes,replace it! it cost just a few $$