Littleton lands on COVID list

The Raiders on Thursday placed LB Cory Littleton on the COVID list. It's not clear whether Littleton got there by testing positive or being in close contact with someone who did. The timing figures to challenge his ability to make it back for Sunday's game against the Broncos. You should have another plan for your IDP lineup, especially given Littleton's poor production this season.

The Raiders have reached a 3-year, $36 million deal with LB Cory Littleton. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that it will include $22 million guaranteed. That follow's Las Vegas' Monday deal with LB Nick Kwiatkoski to likely fill the team's 2 full-time LB roles for the coming season. Littleton clearly stands as the better player, but we'll see exactly what their roles look like. Littleton became a versatile performer with the Rams, delivering in the pass rush and coverage. He'll remain a stellar bet for fantasy production in the middle of a defense that delivered Tahir Whitehead 108 tackles in 2019. There's room, though, for Kwiatkoski to also reach fantasy-starter territory -- at least in low LB3 range.

The Rams have tendered restricted free agent ILB Cory Littleton at the 2nd-round level. That means any team looking to sign away the 2018 breakout would need to send the Rams a 2nd-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Perhaps some suitor will value Littleton to that degree, but we'd bet on him returning to L.A. Littleton scored across categories in his 1st turn as a full-time starter and should land in LB1 territory in our 2019 IDP rankings.