Fantasy Sports

The former Steeler wasn’t able to carve out a significant role with the Panthers, Ravens, or Texans in 2024 after a 717-yard 2023 season. The Browns apparently saw enough during his visit with the team Monday to sign him to a one-year contract, the details of which have yet to be released. Expect Johnson to start opposite Cedric Tillman on the perimeter while Jerry Jeudy works the slot.

Johnson had a forgettable 2024, to put it mildly. The former Steelers receiver saw himself traded to the Panthers last offseason only to later be traded to the Ravens, where his lack of playing time eventually led to his release. He then found his way to the wide receiver-needy Texans, who rostered him for just over three weeks. He was then claimed off waivers by the Ravens but was not eligible to play during the postseason. Now a free agent, Johnson, 28, has not enjoyed the market many expected him to see this time last year. He’s a productive receiver who has amassed 424 catches for 4,738 yards and 28 touchdowns in his six-year career, but it goes without saying that he’s likely in brand rebuilding mode as far as this offseason is concerned. This is the first visit we’ve heard of for Johnson, who may meet with other teams before signing.

Macdonald’s comments come on the heels of him being asked if Milroe could be used in a “Taysom Hill role.” The second-year coach said Milroe is “going to be trained to play quarterback” and added that Milroe will be playing quarterback when he is on the field. Milroe is a hyper-athletic but raw prospect at the quarterback position and is expected to need a year or two of grooming to improve his decision-making and abilities as a passer. It would not be at all surprising if we saw him in some select packages this upcoming season, but it sounds like the team will not be using him in the hybrid role we’ve grown accustomed to seeing for Hill.

Cooper split last season with the Browns and Bills, catching 44 passes for 547 yards and four touchdowns. It was a down year for Cooper, who never made the impact the Bills hoped for when they traded for him at last year’s deadline, but the soon-to-be 31-year-old may have enough left to make an impact for his former team. In four seasons with the Cowboys, Cooper caught 292 passes for 3,893 yards and 27 touchdowns while earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2019. The Cowboys didn’t add a receiver in this year’s draft.

This news comes as a surprise to nobody. While it’s worth noting that nothing has been made official at this time, Burks’ time with the Titans has been filled with disappointing production across 27 games (53-699-1) and injuries. Burks is still rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered in Week 5 last season. The former No. 18 overall pick is entering a legitimate prove-it year, but may struggled to see the field even if healthy. In addition to competing with Calvin Ridley, Burks will also be going up against veteran Van Jefferson and rookie receivers Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor, who the Titans used fourth-round picks on last weekend.

There are formalities, and then there is declining a fully guaranteed $22.1 million option year for Kenny Pickett. Pickett is now part of a four-headed battle in training camp between himself, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders, and Joe Flacco to make the Browns. We’ll see if Pickett makes the roster, but it may be more about how well the rookies play than anything he does in camp or the preseason.

The Jets exited the draft without adding another sure-fire target at wideout, leaving the primary target competition for Taylor as Garrett Wilson, Josh Reynolds, Allen Lazard, and Arian Smith. It’s not impossible to see the rookie finding TE1-caliber production out of this situation, though he probably makes a better late dart throw in standard leagues than anything else at this point.

It’s certainly more of an opinion than a fact, but Buscaglia writes that Kincaid “can be the single-most important key to giving the Bills a different element to their game.” Perhaps more notable is the fact that Kincaid is healthy after dealing with “ill-timed injuries” last season, which includes but are perhaps not limited to a knee injury that led to him missing four regular season games. Kincaid caught 73 passes for 673 and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2023, but was limited to just 44-448-2 across 13 games last season. A more reliable role could have him on the fantasy radar as a low-end TE1 after he ranked 11th amongst TE in points as a rookie.

Popper has Tre Harris starting alongside Mike Williams and Ladd McConkey in three-wide sets, bringing up the possibility of moving KeAndre Lambert-Smith on to the field when they “need more speed.” None of this sets up especially well for Johnston, the last first-round pick of the Tom Telesco regime. He improved last year with a 55/711/8 receiving line, but he may be fighting for one of the last spots on the roster this year if everyone makes it through training camp without an injury. Harris getting early buzz as a starter is interesting too, though we expect the Chargers to run plenty of two-wide sets.

That’s right, it’s a quote that amounts to the one side facing the mountains in the air, the other facing a wall on opposite sides of the bus meme. We’re more interested to see what Mike Vrabel says about Henderson — he’s gonna divvy up the playing time — but he didn’t have a press availability after Day 2 or Day 3 of the draft. We’d tentatively expect Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson to split the load early in the season. What happens from there is probably more about the results than anything. Henderson probably belongs in the top-75 of drafts on perceived upside, but we’d love to see a quote from Vrabel about his role.