Unsigned Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Bengals WR Tyler Boyd left in the 2nd quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Ravens to be checked for a concussion. We'll pass along an update on his status when we get one.

Update: Boyd was cleared to return.

The Saints and WR Michael Thomas agreed to a restructured contract, ESPN's Field Yates reports. Thomas' 2023 base salary was reduced from $15.5 million to $1.165 million, with a $31.755 million roster bonus for the 2024 league year added that becomes fully guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2023 league year. In short, this means we'll get a decision on Thomas' future with the Saints by mid-March. Releasing Thomas would still result in a dead-cap charge of nearly $26 million. Thomas turns 30 in March and has played in just 10 games over the past 3 seasons. He had surgery in November to repair a dislocated 2nd toe.

The Ravens waived WR DeSean Jackson and activated WR Tylan Wallace from IR. Wallace joins Demarcus Robinson, Sammy Watkins and James Proche in Baltimore's WR corps. It's obviously a major weak spot heading into the playoffs.

Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman is inactive for Saturday’s matchup with the Raiders. Out since Week 9, Hardman should return for the postseason.

The Commanders have elevated RB Jaret Patterson from the practice squad, ahead of Sunday's finale against the Cowboys. It's not a surprising move, given that RB Antonio Gibson will be out once again. He landed on IR Thursday after missing last week with knee and foot injuries. RB Brian Robinson Jr. (knee) joined Gibson in missing Wednesday's practice. Don't be surprised if Robinson sits out the finale as well. Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch says Patterson "seems likely to get a large share of work on Sunday." Washington also has RB Jonathan Williams on the active roster. Beware of using any Commanders offensive players in your Week 18 lineup.

Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman (abdomen) has been activated from IR, putting him in line to play in Saturday's regular-season finale vs. the Raiders. Hardman has been out since Week 9. He'd be a flier in Week 18 fantasy lineups but is certainly in play for NFL Playoffs fantasy contests.

The Cowboys waived WR James Washington. A broken right foot suffered on August 1 kept Washington out until Week 14. He ended up going catchless on 15 offensive snaps over the last 4 games, quickly getting passed on the depth chart by WR T.Y. Hilton. Dallas will head into the playoff with CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, Noah Brown and Hilton as its top 4 WRs.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles plans to play his starters, including QB Tom Brady, in Sunday's regular-season finale vs. the Falcons, despite the Bucs being locked into the NFC's #4 seed. "We can get better at a lot of things, so right now, we plan on playing [Brady]," Bowles said Monday. "We'll see how the week goes going forward, but we can get better at a lot of things that we need to work on, and we don't need our foot off the gas." Bowles added that he'll consider pulling starters in the 2nd half. We'd be surprised if Brady played more than a half and don't expect RB Leonard Fournette or WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to play the entire game, either.

Cowboys WR T.Y. Hilton went from 1 catch on 12 snaps in his team debut in Week 16 to 4 catches on 22 snaps this past week. “I could see him getting even more this week," HC Mike McCarthy said Monday. "It’s a steady incline." Hilton was still 4th among Dallas WRs in route rate (33%) last week, but it's possible that he passes up Noah Brown for the #3 role by playoff time. Something to keep in mind for your playoff fantasy drafts.

Titans HC Mike Vrabel named QB Joshua Dobbs his starter for this weekend's must-win game vs. the Jaguars. It was the only logical move after Dobbs looked like a functional NFL QB in Thursday night's loss to the Cowboys -- something that hasn't been said about QB Malik Willis this season. Of course, the Titans will ride RB Derrick Henry as far as he can take them this Sunday.

Rams RB Cam Akers ran for 123 yards on 19 carries in Sunday's loss to the Chargers. That marked his 2nd straight game of more than 100 yards rushing but just the 2nd time all season that a Rams RB has exceeded 65 rushing yards. Unfortunately, RB Malcolm Brown claimed the team's lone TD. Akers closes out the season with a Seattle defense that hit Week 17 as the 2nd-best scoring matchup for RBs by adjusted fantasy points allowed.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook managed just 27 yards on 9 carries in Sunday's lopsided loss to the Packers. He added just 2 catches for 17 more yards. It was Cook's fewest rushes and rushing yards since Week 2. The whole offense gets a better matchup at Chicago in Week 18.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady threw for 432 yards and 3 TDs in Sunday's win over the Panthers, clinching the NFC South title. Brady found WR Mike Evans for all 3 scores, from 30, 57 and 63 yards out. Evans accounted for 48% of Brady's passing yardage, as the QB posted his biggest total since Week 3 of 2021. With the division locked up, we wouldn't be surprised to see Tampa Bay rest some starters in Week 18. But we'll assess situations like that throughout the league in finalizing our Week 18 fantasy football rankings.

Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon caught another 2 TD passes in Sunday's win over the Broncos, the 2nd time this season he has tallied 2 receiving scores against Denver. McKinnon's TDs came from 6 and 3 yards out this time. It was his 5th straight game with at least 1 score and 3rd 2-TD game among the past 4. McKinnon and the Chiefs face a weak Raiders defense in Week 18.

Commanders TE Logan Thomas hauled in 6 of 7 targets for 56 yards on Sunday vs. the Browns. This effort led all Commanders' pass-catchers in what was a rather poor offensive showing in the Week 17 loss. WR Jahan Dotson only managed to rope in 3 of 7 targets for 37 yards. WRs Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel combined for 3 catches between them and did not provide much fantasy value on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see if Commanders HC Ron Rivera hands the reigns back over to QB Taylor Heinicke for Week 18 vs. the Cowboys. That might be the only hope fantasy managers playing beyond this week have for this bunch.

Colts QB Nick Foles is questionable to return to Sunday's game vs. the Giants with a rib injury. He was in a lot of pain and had to be carted back to the locker room. We'll update his status when we know more. With QB Matt Ryan inactive, QB Sam Ehlinger will replace Foles.

Update: Foles has been ruled out.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate is a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the Panthers. It's not a major surprise after the 31-year-old played just 8 snaps last week. Brate's absence is a slight boost to TE Cade Otton's fantasy stock. TEs Kyle Rudolph and Ko Kieft are also active for Tampa.

Commanders RB Jaret Patterson has been elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's game vs. the Browns. He'll join Brian Robinson and Jonathan Williams in the Antonio Gibson-less backfield. Robinson should dominate the ball-carrying work but is likely to lose passing-down snaps to Williams and potentially Patterson.

Browns RB Kareem Hunt (shoulder) logged full practice all week and carries no injury designation ahead of Week 17 vs. the Commanders. The veteran back has only tallied more than 10+ touches in 3 of the last 7 games. With minimal volume, it's tough to consider Hunt as anything but a desperation flex play. The Commanders' defense ranking as the 3rd-toughest matchup for opposing RBs in adjusted fantasy points allowed in 2022 doesn't help his case much either. There are likely better fantasy options than Hunt to choose from in the fantasy championship round.

Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman (abdomen) suffered a setback in Wednesday's practice and won't play vs. the Broncos this weekend, HC Andy Reid said. "I'm not that worried about it," Reid added, which presumably means Hardman should at least be ready for the playoffs. JuJu Smith-Schuster remains the only reliable fantasy play in Kansas City's WR corps.