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    Zach Ertz (ACL) cleared for football activities

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    FA Tight End #86
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    ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports free agent TE Zach Ertz (ACL) is “cleared for all football activities.”

    Ertz tore his ACL in Week 14 last season with the Commanders. Schefter reports the 35-year-old is ready for football activities and was catching passes from Andrew Luck at Stanford on Tuesday. He caught 50 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns last season, seeing at least 70 targets in each of the last two seasons with the Commanders. Ertz has expressed a desire to continue playing and Schefter reports the veteran is “expected to be ready to sign in mid-August.” His top-15 fantasy tight end days are behind him, but Ertz can certainly offer some help in the tight end landscape this season, pending his landing spot.
Sando breaks down NFL QB tier list
Mike Sando joins Dan Patrick to break down his quarterback tiers, unpacking the criteria and notable names that fall in each.

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  • FA Tight End #86
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    Ertz suffered a torn ACL in Week 14 of last season. Now nearly six months removed from his surgery, the 35-year-old free agent is continuing to rehab in hopes of returning for at least one more season. In his second season with the Commanders, Ertz totaled 50 receptions for 504 yards and four touchdowns and posted a 116-1,158-11 line in his two seasons with the team. While a return to Washington seems unlikely at this point, when healthy, Ertz should have a little bit of a market for teams in need of help at the position. Even if he does land somewhere, it’s hard to imagine Ertz having any real fantasy upside beyond that of a matchup based streaming option.
  • FA Tight End #86
    Ertz may not be 100 percent by September, but perhaps he’ll be a midseason reinforcement somewhere. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said “you never know” when asked about Ertz returning behind Dallas Goedert. The Commanders also reportedly haven’t ruled out bringing him back.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    The 35-year-old was injured in early December. Ertz had already become a catch-and-fall specialist even before his injury, but he has maintained a route-running savvy and strong pair of hands. His injury timeline makes him a tricky bet early in free agency, perhaps making it more likely he holds out for more guaranteed money on the eve of training camp. By then, teams will have a better idea of his health, as well as their own needs.
  • BAL Tight End #80
    Likely, an unrestricted free agent, could see interest from multiple teams this spring, including the Commanders, who are likely to move on from veteran TE Zach Ertz after his catastrophic knee injury in 2025. “Likely would bring more upside with his catch-and-run ability. A move player in the formation, Likely would also be schemed to create underneath one-on-ones,” Bowen said. In his four seasons with the Ravens, Likely popped off a few times in a run-heavy offense, usually when Mark Andrews was sidelined. Likely since the start of the 2024 season ranks fourth among all tight ends in ESPN’s open score, which measures a player’s ability to separate from defenders. He would be an intriguing fantasy option as an every-down player in Washington.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    Ertz’s 2025 season is over after a Week 14 cheap shot resulted in a torn ACL for the 35-year-old veteran. He ends the season with 50 receptions for 504 yards and four touchdowns. Ertz was tenth among tight ends in catches and 12th in yardage before the injury. John Bates will likely operate as Washington’s TE1 for now, though Ben Sinnott could mix in as the Commanders play out the rest of their lost season. Neither Bates nor Sinnott should be played in 12-team leagues.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    At a minimum, this is a season-ending injury for Ertz. At worst, it’s a career-ending injury for the 35-year-old tight end who has played 13 seasons and now suffered two devastating knee injuries in his career. Ertz re-upped with the Commanders on a one-year, $6.25 million deal this offseason after a bounce-back 2024 campaign in which he went for 66-654-7. Ertz continued to be a reliable safety blanket in the passing game for the 3-10 Commanders, posting a steady 5-504-4 line this season while going for 50-plus yards in three games. He’ll enter 2026 as a free agent, and may need to prove he’s fully healed in the offseason before signing a one-year contract with the Commanders or another team.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    This news should come as no surprise to anybody who saw a video of the injury. Ertz’s leg bent in an unnatural direction after he was hit by safety Jay Ward in the third quarter, and the veteran tight end needed help to get to the sideline before being carted to the locker room. A torn ACL would mark the end of the season for Ertz, who is already in the twilight of his 13-year career. Ertz entered the day with 49 receptions for 493 yards and four touchdowns. Backup John Bates would be next in line for snaps in Ertz’s absence.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    It’s safe to say Ertz’s day is over after the veteran receiver suffered a devastating knee injury in the third quarter. Ertz, who caught one pass for 11 yards in Sunday’s game, could be seen in tears while being carted away. The 35-year-old is likely looking at a long-term injury that could prove to be a season-ender.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    Ertz attempted to make a leaping grab, only to have his legs taken out by safety Jay Ward. Ertz remained down on the field for several minutes while having his right knee tended to, and was unable to put any weight on it while being assisted to the sidelines. It was a bad looking injury that is likely to sideline him for the remainder of the game and perhaps longer. If his day is over, Ertz will finish with a 1-11-0 line on two targets.
  • WAS Tight End #86
    Ertz was one of the primary beneficiaries of a career-high 50 pass attempts from veteran backup Marcus Mariota, reeling in a season-high 10 balls in the process. His fantasy night could have been even bigger had he corralled a four-yard pass on third-and-goal in overtime, which nearly cost the team a chance at completing the comeback. Mariota would find Terry McLaurin on a pick-slant on the next play but a failed fourth-down attempt sent the Commanders to their seventh consecutive loss. Ertz remains a steady, yet unspectacular, contributor in Washington’s offense and fantasy managers can continue starting him in PPR formats.

Rotoworld

  • TB Wide Receiver #15
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    Buccaneers WR Tez Johnson left Tuesday’s practice early with a groin injury.

    Johnson left practice early Tuesday to get treatment for an apparent strain. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said the 24-year-old wideout is dealing with a groin injury. The severity of the injury is unclear as Bowles said it’s too early to tell if any of the team’s top four wide receivers would miss next week’s joint practices with the Jets. Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan also missed practice out of maintenance and precaution. With Johnson and David Sills also exiting practice, rookie Ted Hurst saw a boost in practice reps.
  • FA Tight End #86
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    ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports free agent TE Zach Ertz (ACL) is “cleared for all football activities.”

    Ertz tore his ACL in Week 14 last season with the Commanders. Schefter reports the 35-year-old is ready for football activities and was catching passes from Andrew Luck at Stanford on Tuesday. He caught 50 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns last season, seeing at least 70 targets in each of the last two seasons with the Commanders. Ertz has expressed a desire to continue playing and Schefter reports the veteran is “expected to be ready to sign in mid-August.” His top-15 fantasy tight end days are behind him, but Ertz can certainly offer some help in the tight end landscape this season, pending his landing spot.
  • TB Wide Receiver #14
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    Buccaneers WRs Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan did not practice Tuesday to manage injuries and soreness.

    Fox Sports’ Greg Auman reported the three lead Buccaneers receivers got the day off Tuesday. For Godwin, it is a veteran maintenance day as he aims to open the season fully healthy; expect him to see more maintenance days heading into preseason. Egbuka and McMillan are dealing with lower-body soreness and were held out of practice out of precaution. Ultimately, no major injury concerns as the Bucs play it safe with their top three wideouts in training camp.
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    NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reports the Browns will alternate QBs Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson as preseason starters.

    Wolfe said Browns head coach Todd Monken told him the team will start “one quarterback the first preseason game, the other one will start the second one, and most likely the leader of the competition is going to start the third.” It sounds like Monken is planning to give both Watson and Sanders a chance to compete and build chemistry in camp and preseason before determining a leader in the quarterback race. The Browns’ quarterback room is one of the few truly dead-even quarterback competitions occurring in camp and fantasy managers can stay tuned to preseason play to assess if Watson or Sanders has the edge to start Week 1.
  • DEN Outside Linebacker #15
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    Broncos head coach Sean Payton said EDGE Nik Bonitto (lower leg) will be “fine” after leaving practice early Tuesday.

    Bonitto suffered a lower leg injury in drills Tuesday and did not return to practice. He limped off under his own power surrounded by the Broncos’ training staff. Payton said he had “no updates” on the 26-year-old pass rusher but that Bonitto will be “fine.” It is unclear how severe his injury is, but based on Payton’s response, it seems Bonitto will be fine in the long term and may only miss some camp time.
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    Commanders CB Ahkello Witherspoon retired after nine seasons in the NFL.

    Witherspoon was placed on the reserve/retired list Tuesday, just a few months after initially signing with the Commanders. The 31-year-old entered the league with the 49ers as a 2017 third-rounder. Witherspoon tallied 60 passes defended and 13 interceptions over his career, spending four seasons in San Francisco, two with the Steelers, and the past three seasons with the Rams.
  • DET Wide Receiver #18
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    The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy reports a lot of targets to Isaac TeSlaa in the early portion of training camp have been broken up “due to a lack of separation.”

    We weren’t expecting a major target share for TeSlaa anyway in this offense, and he makes his living making contested catches, but it’s still a little disappointing that he hasn’t taken more of a step forward from his rookie season so far. TeSlaa is probably only a consideration in deeper leagues at this time.
  • CHI Running Back #25
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    Kyle Monangai (undisclosed soft tissue injury) returned to team drills Tuesday.

    He missed four training camp practices while dealing with the injury, but it seems that this won’t be a long-term hinderance. He can be drafted with confidence, or at least as much confidence as you can find in backs in a timeshare, in fantasy leagues.
  • NYG Quarterback #6
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    The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports the Giants offense has looked “disjointed” early in training camp.

    Part of this stems from asking Jaxson Dart to “run a more traditional offense,” meaning more under-center snaps for the second-year pro as opposed to last year’s shotgun-heavy offense that Brian Daboll built while heavily borrowing from the Ole Miss playbook. Another part of it in Duggan’s estimation is that the Giants pass rush has been “dominant” early in training camp. “You can’t even imagine how much there is for a quarterback to operate with, especially in a new offense,” John Harbaugh said. “He’s done an outstanding job.” It’s probably too soon to be overly worried about Dart this year, but he does profile as a risky fantasy pick in Matt Nagy’s new offense.
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    Lions signed RB Raheem Blackshear.

    They also worked out Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Hassan Haskins and Kylin James and settled on Blackshear of the group. Blackshear has been a worthwhile return specialist and may have a chance to handle that role with the Lions.