Both receivers are set to miss the Steelers’ upcoming preseason game against the Jets with undisclosed injuries. Without both starting wide receivers, you can expect Aaron Rodgers to sit out as well. Without much practice time remaining, the next time we see the Steelers’ starting offense very well may be in the regular season.
The deal includes $101 million guaranteed and makes Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history by both the total and average value of the contract. Witherspoon’s $132 million total value bests Rams CB Trent McDuffie, who signed a $124 million extension this offseason, for the biggest cornerback contract in the game. His $33 million per year average value overtakes Browns CB Denzel Ward’s $31.1 million for highest average value. Now attention should shift towards Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez, who appears to be next in line for an extension in this neighborhood.
Love came out of the Cardinals preseason game on Thursday with an ankle injury. HC Mike LaFluer said after the game that Love could have returned. On Saturday morning, he changed his tune. LaFluer told reporters Love’s ankle is a “little more sore” and that he’ll be out for at least week. He didn’t commit to Love returning for the Cardinals third preseason game, only that the 21-year old running back will be re-evaluated in a week. Love totaled 73 scrimmage yards and looked like the clear-cut starter against the Raiders on Thursday, but Tyler Allgeier could end up being the de facto starter if Love’s ankle injury lingers into the regular season.
Burden limped off the practice field a week ago and is expected to miss about a month with a groin injury. The injury isn’t considered serious and the hope is that he’ll be active for the Bears first regular season matchup against the Panthers in Week 1. Burden running on the field before the Bears first preseason game was a welcome sight for the organization and fantasy managers alike as the 22-year-old wide receiver appears to be progressing in his recovery.
Gonzalez missed practice on Tuesday, didn’t play in the Patriots’ preseason game on Thursday and remains off the field for Saturday’s practice. Still awaiting a contract extension from the Patriots, Gonzalez’ absence is related to an injury he suffered in practice last week, according to Patriots HC Mike Vrabel. While Gonzalez won’t practice, Vrabel said he’ll get treatment and work on conditioning, which implies the injury isn’t serious.
Even after TeSlaa’s training camp struggles extended into the Lions’ first preseason game, Detroit doesn’t seem worried about the 24-year-old receiver. TeSlaa had his first target go through his hands and off his helmet for an interception and later couldn’t hang on to a fourth down pass in the loss to the Bengals on Thursday. Still, his only competitor for the WR3 role is Greg Dortch, a journeyman receiver who also failed to catch a pass in the first preseason game. The Lions WR3 isn’t likely to be a fantasy-relevant role when everyone else in the offense is healthy, but Detroit would still like to see more development from their third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The deal was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Benton, who turned 25 in July, is entering his fourth season in the league after the Steelers selected him in the second-round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Coming off a career-best season that saw him record 5.5 sacks, Benton would’ve been set to hit free agency next offseason without a contract extension. Now Benton joins LB Nick Herbig, TE Darnell Washington and K Chris Boswell on the list of Steelers to receive extensions this offseason. With his $18 million per year contract, Benton is now the highest-paid defensive lineman in Steelers history.
Douglas is worth a late-round pick. Dolphins QB Malik Willis attempted five passes tonight, sending two his way. Both of Douglas’ targets were downfield throws. Douglas erred on the first. After managing to get wide open, running toward the right sideline, the rookie wide receiver experienced a blip in his spatial awareness and ended up securing the pass while stepping out of bounds. Willis gave him another chance on a vertical route from the slot, firing a long ball to the lanky receiver downfield. Willis fought contact with his right hand while high-pointing the pass with his left, and critically retained possession as he landed hard on his back. The third-round rookie looks good.
Allen stole one snap from starting RB Breece Hall on the first drive. Allen then stayed on the field for all of the second drive, breaking off a beautiful 31-yard touchdown run to put the Jets up 10-0 at the end of it. On his scoring play, Allen broke left at the snap before cutting it back and exploding through the line between the right guard and right tackle. It was a foot race to the end zone after that. The performance should solidify his grip on the RB2 role.
The Buccaneers rested their established starters, which takes a little shine off of Hurst’s start. Regardless, he led the team in targets through three drives and nearly hauled in a deep target after helpfully getting open during a scramble drill. The third-round rookie appeared to slip while diving for the catch, and he was unable to fully secure the pass before he and the ball hit the ground. Still, it was a decent start for him. He remains a worthwhile late-round dart throw.
Cooper entered the game on the Jets’ second drive, after the established starters called it a night. The usage meant Cooper played behind WR Isaiah Williams, who played 7-of-11 snaps on the first drive. Cooper continued playing through the Jets’ sixth drive. According to Rotoworld’s own Kyle Dvorchak, the last non-quarterback first-round rookie to play that late is former Titans WR Treylon Burks, back in his 2022 rookie season. This does not bode well for Cooper’s early-season usage.
The report comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Bisontis is expected to miss most of the season and could end up missing all of it. Rapoport ambiguously adds that “only the MCL will be repaired,” leaving room for interpretation as to whether Bisontis’ knee took more damage in the injury. This is a very unfortunate situation for the second-round rookie. Hopefully, he makes a complete recovery and returns to form without issue.
Coleman took a few snaps with tonight’s starters after replacing RB RJ Harvey on the second drive. Coleman picked up two first downs on the ground, barreling through contact on both plays. He earned one target as a receiver out of the backfield and took it for a five-yard gain. Unfortunately, the play was erased by a penalty, but it was good to see him get involved through the air regardless. Coleman looks like a capable player. He is worth speculatively stashing on fantasy benches at this time.
Spring and summer reports indicated that the Dolphins’ new coaching staff wanted to operate a run-heavy offense. Those reports weren’t lying. Achane took run after run up the middle until he punched one in from one yard out. Questions remain as to how efficient this offense might be, but Achane is seemingly set to handle a large workload again this season. Backup RB Jaylen Wright was the RB2 tonight, taking his first carry for 13 yards up the middle.
Willis’ lone incompletion was not his fault. His intended receiver stepped out of bounds during the catch. The Dolphins’ new quarterback was not afraid to push the ball downfield and scrambled twice in Commanders territory. One carry occurred in the green zone, and Willis managed to break an attempted horse-collar tackle before being pushed out of bounds at the four-yard line. Willis won’t fool you into thinking he is an elite quarterback, but his dual-threat profile should yield QB1 spiked weeks this season.
Coen discussed both RB Bhayshul Tuten and RB Chris Rodriguez during his presser. Regarding Tuten, Coen said the second-year back has shown that he has “bought in” over the past year, and complimented his ability to take “hard coaching” while noting his 4.28-second 40 speed. Coen adds that Tuten has to continue working on making his reads and not overthinking things. Regarding Rodriguez, Coen complimented his recent downhill running and blitz pickups. Coen loves consistency at the running back position. This looks like it will be a committee to start the year. That said, if one player separates, things can change quickly. Tuten remains the high-upside pick, although Rodriguez can be productive in his own right.
Mariota appeared to injure his knee when he turned to hand the ball off to his running back, and immediately started limping. He was seemingly patting his right knee while sitting on the field, talking to trainers after the play. He was able to leave the field under his own power, but we do not expect him to return. He was replaced by QB Sam Hartman.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports that the team is not concerned about Smith’s foot soreness, writing, “if this was a regular-season game, he’d be a go.” Smith has reportedly been pushing the ball downfield in practice. Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the Jets’ passing attack will have to check back next week to see if the foot issue has been resolved. Rookie QB Cade Klubnik gets the start tonight.
Egbuka reportedly underwent more testing with a specialist today, who confirmed Ebuka indeed sprained his toe but determined that the injury is “stable.” This is great to hear. The second-year player is a high-ceiling WR2 candidate this season. The Buccaneers face the Bengals in Week 1, in what should be a fantasy-friendly environment.
Allen’s pass-protection skills have him locked in as the Jaguars’ third-down running back. He played in all 17 games last season, but earned just 11 targets — hardly enough for a PPR-relevant role. Per Shipley, “has gotten more looks in the passing game in training camp this year than he did at this time a year ago.” He adds that it is unclear as to how much more involved Allen will be once the regular season arrives, but he closes by saying that “it does seem like the uptick is about to be very real.” With two other players expected to be involved in the backfield, it could still be tough for Allen to become FLEX-viable, but only time will tell.
Garafolo says that the Buccaneers remain steadfast in their position that Vea is not available. The team has also apparently kept the lines of communication open with Vea regarding a potential new deal, although “a deal is not imminent.” Vea is set to make roughly $18 million in the final year of his contract. Garafolo notes that the top of the defensive tackle market is now around $38 million annually, and Vea believes his production qualifies him for a contract extension in that tier.
Garafolo captioned a report from ESPN’s Katherine Terrell regarding Tyson’s new injury, adding that Tyson’s “timeline to return is TBD but doesn’t seem it’ll be anytime soon.” Here’s what we know: Tyson injured his right hamstring yesterday. Multiple right hamstring injuries derailed his 2025 college season and kept him from participating in the pre-draft process. Saints coach Kellen Moore initially said the new injury is unrelated to Tyson’s prior injuries, but New Orleans Football’s Mike Triplett noted today that Moore “changed his wording to say it wasn’t ‘necessarily’ related.” Moore also said that Tyson’s Week 1 availability may be impacted. Here’s hoping that Tyson’s decision to seek multiple opinions yields multiple positive reports. Stay tuned.
Lawrence was an impactful player on the Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX defense, leading the team in forced fumbles (five) and ranking in the top two in quarterback pressures (65) and sacks (10) across the full season. Lawrence, 34, should be a productive player once again this season.
Buchanan suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 15 last year. Before the injury, the then-rookie racked up 93 tackles, five TFLs, and 0.5 sacks. The Ravens correspondingly placed OT Kendall Lamm on the reserve/retired list.
The journeyman offensive lineman was on seven different teams over the course of his career. He initially entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Texans. He played for them for four seasons before making his way around parts of the league. Lamm had signed with the Ravens earlier this month, but they placed him on the reserve/retired list today.