The Texans signed RB Marlon Mack to a 1-year deal. Mack tallied 1,999 yards and 17 TDs on 4.5 yards per carry across his 2nd and 3rd NFL seasons. But he tore his Achilles in the 2020 opener and totaled just 28 carries for 101 yards behind Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines in Indianapolis last year. If somewhere close to 100%, though, Mack might just be the best in a Houston backfield currently sporting only Rex Burkhead, Royce Freeman and Dare Ogunbowale. We'll see if the Texans add more in the draft. Mack just turned 26 last month.
RB Giovani Bernard is re-signing with the Buccaneers on a 1-year deal for the "veteran salary benefit," according to ESPN's Jenna Laine. That means just less than $1.3 million for the 10th-year veteran. Bernard carried just 8 times while adding 29 targets over 12 regular-season games last year, losing 4 to hip and knee injuries late in the season. He's expected to work behind Leonard Fournette and Ke'Shawn Vaughn on the depth chart.
The Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud believes there will be more of a "commitment to run the football" from the Bucs under new HC Todd Bowles. Tampa ranked 2nd in pass rate and 3rd in situation-neutral pass rate last season, so there's certainly room for more running. But we're not expecting a massive shift with QB Tom Brady and OC Byron Leftwich back in the fold.
The Rams have agreed to a 5-year, $50 million deal with LB Bobby Wagner, according to multiple reports. The pact has a reported max value of $65 million. We'd be surprised if the veteran LB sticks with L.A. for 5 years and the contract gets anywhere close to either of those numbers. But the Rams clearly want Wagner to be their top off-ball LB for at least the next year or 2. This move should keep Wagner well within LB1 range for IDP drafts in 2022.
After listening to new Giants HC Brian Daboll speak at the NFL owners' meetings on Tuesday, insider Zack Rosenblatt came away believing that RB Saquon Barkley will be a bigger part of the passing game this season. "Saquon is a unique guy," Daboll said. "If you go back I’ve watched all of his tape all the way back from his rookie year when he had (91) catches. He’s a versatile player ... I’m excited to work with him.” After averaging 5.7 catches per game as a rookie, Barkley has sunk to 3.5 per game over the last 3 seasons. Look for that number to rebound this season, assuming good health for Barkley.
Bruce Arians announced Wednesday that he's stepping down as Bucs HC and moving into a consulting role in the front office. He finishes his tenure as Bucs HC with a 31-18 record and a Super Bowl. DC Todd Bowles has been promoted to HC with a new 5-year contract. It'll be his 2nd go-around as a HC after struggling to a 24-40 record with the Jets from 2015-2018. OC Byron Leftwich will remain in the same position this season. And, with QB Tom Brady back, we're not worried about Arians' departure impacting the offense.
Saints S Malcolm Jenkins has announced he's retiring after a 13-year career that took him from New Orleans to Philadelphia and back. His departure means the Saints will hit 2022 without either of the safeties who started for them last season. (Marcus Williams left for Baltimore in free agency.) New Orleans has signed S Marcus Maye to a multi-year deal and S Daniel Sorensen for 1 year. As it stands, that could be the starting duo to open 2022, with slot CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson a candidate to compete with Sorensen. We'll see whether free agency or the draft adds competition.
Former Giants S Jabrill Peppers is joining the Patriots on a 1-year deal. Peppers is still just 26 (until Oct. 4) and a former 1st-round pick, but he's likely headed for a reserve/rotational role with New England. His playing time dipped even before an ACL tear and high-ankle sprain ended his 2021 campaign early. Peppers lands in a crowded Patriots secondary. His best path back to IDP relevance would be if New England envisions some sort of hybrid safety-LB role for a guy who has played both and looks better in the box than in deep coverage.
The Saints signed QB Andy Dalton to a 1-year deal. It contains $3 million in guaranteed money and can be worth "up to" $6 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. That's backup money, which is what Dalton figures to be behind Jameis Winston in New Orleans. The signing will allow Taysom Hill to focus on TE, as HC Dennis Allen said he would earlier today.
Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said RB Rashaad Penny will "get the first shots" in the backfield. "He deserves it, he's earned it," Carroll said of Penny. Carroll was also quick to mention RB Chris Carson, though. "If we can get [Penny] and Chris back and battling, that one-two punch is all I could hope for," Carroll said. Seattle gave Penny a 1-year, $5.75 million deal with a little over $5 million fully guaranteed in free agency after his huge finish to 2021. That, of course, followed 3 mostly disappointing seasons to open his pro career. Penny is the ultimate risk/reward pick in early fantasy drafts -- but he's reasonably priced at a RB30 ADP in FFPC drafts.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid called RBs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones a "good combo." Added Reid of Jones, “He’s a tough runner with good vision. I’ll take that, and he needs that opportunity to feel like he’s a major part of this thing. We’ll give him that." It sure sounds like the Chiefs view Jones as real competition for CEH, rather than an insurance policy. This will be 1 of the more important backfields to monitor this summer.
ESPN's Dianna Russini reports that the Chiefs are "calling teams" trying to trade for a "top receiver." We could speculate on whom that might mean, but who would have ever guess that this offseason would include Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill being traded. For now, it's just a signal that we shouldn't get too comfy with the idea of either JuJu Smith-Schuster or Marquez Valdes-Scantling leading Kansas City in targets this season. Keep this possibility in mind as you decide where to value the recently signed wideouts in current best-ball drafting.
New Saints HC Dennis Allen said Tuesday that QB Taysom Hill will have a role shift in 2022. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, Hill will focus primarily on TE this year. Hill has just 34 career receptions, with more than half of those (19) coming in 2019. He, of course, has played varied roles for the Saints in his time. If you play DFS, you might remember 2 years ago when Hill got the surprise start over Jameis Winston at QB after Drew Brees went down and carried a TE designation on FanDuel. We'll see how league-hosting sites elect to treat Hill in 2022. We wouldn't bet on him attaining regular fantasy relevance at any position, though -- barring an injury to Winston and return to starting QB. Adam Trautman should be the team's lead TE.
The Falcons on Monday announced the signing of WR Auden Tate. The former 7th-round pick caught 61 passes across 4 seasons with the Bengals. Most of those came in 2019, when Tate posted a 40-575-1 receiving line. He might remain fantasy irrelevant in Atlanta, but the signing is worth noting because the entire Falcons WR depth chart is currently occupied by shrug emojis. Atlanta also announced the re-signing of Qadree Ollison, who figures to battle Damien Williams for the #3 RB spot (barring an upgrade via the NFL Draft).
Giants GM Joe Schoen emphasized Monday from the NFL owners' meetings that he is "not shopping Saquon Barkley." The new GM drew headlines at the Scouting Combine by saying he'd listen to calls on all players. He acknowledged that "a couple of teams have reached out" on the veteran RB but added, "I haven't called one team about Saquon Barkley." It doesn't sound like we should expect Barkley to move this offseason. (We'll see whether that changes.)
WR Tre'Quan Smith has re-signed with the Saints on a 2-year deal. It has a base value of $6 million with another $4.5 million available via incentives, according to ESPN's Field Yates. Smith has flashed on occasion but has yet to hit 500 receiving yards through 4 NFL seasons. He'll battle Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harty for targets behind Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara this year.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted that WR Michael Gallup (knee) is iffy for the start of the season. “Optimistically, I expect him to give us a question mark around the first game," Jones said. "And I see a conversation that says conservatively, you would like to have a couple more games to get him out there.” This is just confirmation considering Gallup tore his ACL on January 2. Drafters shouldn't be expecting to have him for the start of the season. As Dallas' depth chart currently stands, WR James Washington would be in for a big role for however long Gallup is out.
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Monday RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are "making progress" in their recoveries from last year's torn ACLs. It's the first real update of any kind that we've gotten on these guys since they tore their ACLs in late August and early September, respectively. Harbaugh added that Dobbins and Edwards will "likely" start training camp on the PUP list. But the timing of the knee injuries makes both guys good bets to be available come Week 1.
According to The Athletic's Zak Keefer, Colts HC Frank Reich said from the NFL owners' meetings that he expects a "MUCH bigger role" for RB Nyheim Hines this season with QB Matt Ryan. Hines saw a career-low 3.4 targets per game with Carson Wentz under center last year. Wentz has historically targeted his RBs at a below-average rate. Reich expects Hines' role to be akin to what he did with QB Philip Rivers back in 2020, when he averaged 4.8 targets per game. Hitting that number might be tough behind RB Jonathan Taylor, although the Colts are currently thin at WR. Hines is still just a later-round pick in early PPR best-ball drafts right now.
New Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett said Monday morning (during NFL meetings) that he's "very excited" to get the ball in the hands of TE Albert Okwuegbunam. He said the plan is to use Okwuegbunam as a "move" TE, calling him "more of a receiver right now" who will train further as a blocker. Okwuegbunam lingered until the 4th round of the 2020 draft, but his profile points to a player with much more talent. The 6'6, 258-pounder ran a 4.49-second 40 ahead of the draft, giving him a 100th-percentile speed score for the position. The arrival of QB Russell Wilson and departure of TE Noah Fant (in the same trade) presents tremendous opportunity in 2022. Okwuegbunam sits 16th at TE in our current PPR rankings but presents upside into TE1 territory.
Search
