The Patriots are signing TE Anthony Firkser, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. Firkser had seasons of 34 and 39 catches with the Titans but spent 2022 hauling in just nine passes for the Falcons. He's a depth-only player for New England and likely not a lock to make the regular-season roster. He doesn't impact the fantasy football TE rankings.

The Patriots selected WR Kayshon Boutte with the 10th pick of Round 6 in the NFL Draft. It's a discouraging spot for Boutte, who opened his LSU career looking like a future star. A sophomore-year ankle injury derailed him and continued to impact Boutte through his final season. He followed that with disappointing testing at the Scouting Combine. We like the potential of a fully healthy Boutte -- check his dynasty value report -- but the draft fall suggests the league doesn't believe there's a ton of upside. Don't expect an exciting spot in our dynasty WR rankings.

ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that Patriots HC Bill Belichick "made it sound like the team views [Mike] Gesicki more as a receiver than a traditional tight end, putting him in the category with receivers DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne instead of with tight end Hunter Henry." That came from Reiss talking with Belichick at the recent league meetings. It's not clear whether the coach actually put Gesicki "in the category" with the wideouts, or if that's just Reiss' language. But this is the second Patriots writer we've seen point to Belichick treating Gesicki as more WR than TE. It certainly makes sense. As we pointed out when he signed, Gesicki has had his most productive years when playing primarily in the slot and/or out wide. He fares poorly from a traditional inline TE position. The biggest takeaway for fantasy football players is that it seems we should expect Gesicki to compete more with New England WRs for targets than with Henry. We'll keep watching for further signals on the usage for Gesicki, Henry, and the rest of an offense that will operate under a new OC (Bill O'Brien).

Patriots HC Bill Belichick refused to commit to QB Mac Jones as his 2023 starter when asked at the league meetings this week. “Everybody will get a chance to play," Belichick said. "Everybody that’s on our roster, if they earn the opportunity to play, then based on what they do in practice and all that, then they’ll get an opportunity to play.” It's a classic Belichickian response that we're not reading much into. QB Bailey Zappe was better than expected when pressed into duty last season. But Jones is the guy New England spent a 1st-round pick on just two years ago. He'll have a much better chance this season now that the Patriots have an actual OC in Bill O'Brien running the offense. That said, Jones is an unexciting QB2 option in early best-ball drafts.

The Patriots are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $9 million, according to multiple reports. Gesicki was a forgotten man in HC Mike McDaniels' Dolphins offense last year, mustering just 32 catches for 362 yards and 5 TDs on a 45% snap rate. He's still just 27, though, and topped 700 receiving yards in both 2020 and 2021. He finished both of those seasons as a top-9 TE in PPR points, while ranking 6th and then 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry in New England's TE room, but the two have played different roles to date. Henry played a career-low 26.5% of his pass snaps inline (according to Pro Football Focus) and a career-high 61.6% in the slot in 2021, his first year with the Patriots. Last season, though, he spent exactly the same amount of time (43.3% of pass snaps) in each role -- with a career-low 10.3% out wide. Gesicki has spent just 19.5% of his career snaps inline -- the traditional TE spot -- 58.9% in the slot and 21.1% out wide. Considering the current state of the New England WR corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne), there's room for both TEs to be relevant. We'll look for clues on how the targets will be divvied. For now, don't consider Gesicki more than a low-TE2 in fantasy football drafts. And there's no reason to downgrade Henry's fantasy outlook. He has already been going in mid-TE3 range of best ball drafts. His career-long penchant for end-zone targets makes him well worth mixing in at that level.

The Patriots have agreed to a two-year deal with RB James Robinson. According to multiple reports, it's worth "up to" $8 million. We'll be curious to see what the real value of this contract is. That could signal how big a role the team is planning. The Jaguars traded Robinson for just a sixth-round pick last year, and then he touched the ball just 31 times with the Jets. We're not betting on big stuff from him this year. This move might actually be good news for RB Rhamondre Stevenson. We figured New England would bring in at least one new RB, with Damien Harris hitting the open market. If Robinson winds up the biggest addition, then Stevenson will be well set up for RB1 upside. He finished last season 11th among RBs in PPR points per game.

The Patriots have agreed to terms on a three-year deal worth up to $33 million with WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. The former Chief and Steeler is set to earn $22.5 million in guaranteed money over the first two years of the contract, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Smith-Schuster immediately steps into the mix with an offense that lost WR Jakobi Meyers (a recent signee with the Raiders) and has a lot of work cut out for them. It's tough to say how much fantasy value Smith-Schuster, or any pass-catcher in the Patriots' offense, will have under new OC Bill O'Brien as of now. Even so, there's only room for QB Mac Jones and company to move upward and improve upon their 23rd-ranked aerial attack in Football Outsiders' passing offense DVOA last season. Smith-Schuster logged an impressive 78 receptions and 933 receiving yards as a member of the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs in 2022. The Patriots have a long way to go in righting the ship, but this is a solid step in the right direction.

LSU WR Kayshon Boutte ran a decent 4.5-second 40-yard dash Saturday at the NFL Scouting combine. He didn't have a great day otherwise, though. His 108-inch broach jump rated just 32nd percentile for the position, according to Pro Football Focus' Marcus Mosher. And Boutte's 29-inch vertical rate an even worse second percentile. It was a rough day, but Boutte is still a productive early draft entrant who broke out as a freshman in the SEC. Look for a full breakdown as our Dynasty Fantasy Football Value series gets rolling.

Chiefs WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Kadarius Toney (ankle) are not listed on the final injury report for the Super Bowl. Smith-Schuster was a full participant in practice all week. Toney was a full-go on Thursday and Friday after being limited on Wednesday. It doesn't look like either guy will be limited vs. the Eagles. With WR Mecole Hardman (pelvis) out, Smith-Schuster and Toney will join Marquez Valdes-Scantling as Kansas City's top 3 WRs in that one.

Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. He injured that knee in practice leading up to the AFC Championship and played just 45% of the offensive snaps in that game. But it looks like he'll be ready for his usual role in Sunday's Super Bowl vs. the Eagles.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid expressed optimism on Thursday that WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) will be able to practice next week and play in the Super Bowl. "He’s in a good place," Reid said. "The main thing is that we let that [injury] calm down. I’m very optimistic right now… We’ll just see where it goes.” Check back next week for updates on Smith-Schuster's progress.

Chiefs WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman were all knocked out of Sunday's AFC Championship game vs. the Bengals. It was a knee for Smith-Schuster, which HC Andy Reid called a "re-aggravation" of an issue he dealt with in practice leading up to this game. (Smith-Schuster was added to the injury report with a knee on Friday.). Toney hurt his ankle in the 1st quarter and didn't return. Hardman seemingly tweaked the pelvis injury that had him sidelined since Week 9. The Chiefs get a much-needed week off before squaring off with the Eagles in the Super Bowl. We'll keep a close eye on these WRs when Kansas City officially gets back to work next week.

Patriots insider Mark Daniels hears that QB Mac Jones is "very excited" about the hiring of new OC Bill O'Brien. Jones seemed uncomfortable in and frustrated by New England's offense this past season. He and O'Brien briefly overlapped back in 2021, when O'Brien was hired by Alabama and Jones was in the pre-draft process. It’ll be “nice to start a new working relationship with someone that you already have had the opportunity to work with," a source close to Jones told Daniels. Jones is a 2023 bounce-back candidate after his numbers dipped across the board this past year -- although we're still not excited about his fantasy upside.

The Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as OC. He returns to the same position he held in 2011, when New England ranked 2nd in total yards and 3rd in points with QB Tom Brady. O'Brien was also on the Patriots' offensive staff from 2007 to 2010, so he has plenty of familiarity with the organization. Since leaving New England after that 2011 campaign, O'Brien spent 2 years as Penn State's HC, 7 years as the Texans' HC and, most recently, the past 2 years as Alabama's OC. If nothing else, the Patriots will have a legitimate offensive mind running the offense in 2023 -- something they didn't have this past season.

NBC Sports' Tom Curran hears that "offensive coaching reassignments" are expected in New England this offseason. In other words, expect a legitimate offensive coordinator to be hired after the Patriots experimented with a combination of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge running the offense this past season. We'll see exactly what the Patriots do to the offensive side of the staff, but it's likely to be good news for QB Mac Jones and the skill-position guys.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson got just 8 carries in Sunday's win over the Dolphins, trailing RB Damien Harris by 1 in the latter's return from injury. Stevenson managed 42 yards (a solid 5.3 per carry) and caught 2 of 9 targets for 9 yards. That makes 2 straight games of less than 50 total yards but his 1st time all season with a single-digit touch total in a game he didn't leave early. Stevenson will be tougher to like against the Bills in Week 18, for those playing through the end of the regular season. Harris went 9-32 rushing against the Dolphins, with 3 catches for 18 yards among 3 targets.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) is active for today’s game vs. the Dolphins. We’re not worried about the ankle, but RB Damien Harris’ return is at least a slight ding to Stevenson’s fantasy value. RB Kevin Harris is a healthy scratch today.

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Dolphins. He’s only worth considering in DFS tournaments.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Dolphins. Henry got in 3 limited practices this week after getting knocked out of last week’s loss to the Bengals. It’s unclear if he’s ready to play his usual role today, leaving him in TE2 territory in the Week 17 Rankings.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is expected to play vs. the Dolphins, ESPN's Dan Graziano reports. Henry was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable. Miami ranks 29th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs, and New England will be without TE Jonnu Smith (concussion). But the knee issue adds enough risk to keep Henry out of TE1 consideration.