NFL Player News

His release trims $935,000 off the team’s books. More importantly, it leaves only Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer as New England’s options under center. With a sudden vacancy at that position, perhaps coach Bill Belichick will kick the tires on free agent Cam Newton.

Colston Loveland, meanwhile, caught exactly zero passes as the Bears put up 59 points against a nonexistent Carolina defense. Kmet ran a route on 19 of Caleb Williams’ 39 drop backs against the Panthers and came down with one of Williams’ two touchdown tosses on the day. Kmet will have some fantasy value going forward as long as he has some route running involvement in the potent Chicago offense. He can be added in deeper leagues ahead of Week 2.

Diggs’ nine targets led all Commanders players, while his 55 receiving yards were second to rookie Antonio Williams. He had two crucial drops earlier in the game, but Diggs (somewhat) made up for them when he hauled in a 10-yard receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Commanders were attempting to draw even with the Eagles. Unfortunately, a careless unsportsmanlike penalty by Diggs after the touchdown moved the Commanders out of position to consider going for a two-point conversion while trailing 17-15, instead forcing them to go for a long 47-yard PAT. Diggs’ nine targets were an encouraging sign for him in his Commanders debut, but it’s worth noting that Terry McLaurin saw only four targets after being bottled up for most of the day. That said, Diggs has commanded targets wherever he plays, and could have some value as a WR3 in next week’s game against the Titans.

Florio adds that Flowers is currently considered questionable to play in Week 2 against the Saints. The Ravens’ No. 1 wide receiver “tweaked” the same hamstring that he spent the last two weeks rehabbing. He caught 5-of-6 targets for 150 yards and one touchdown before exiting today, thriving in OC Declan Doyle’s new scheme. Hopefully, Flowers can make a quick, successful recovery and return to form before long.

Watson got on the board early with an 81-yard bomb for a touchdown in the first quarter. He continued to gash the Vikings for big plays throughout the contest and even got in the end zone a second time on a short toss from Jordan Love just before halftime. Watson slowed down in the second half, but the damage was already done, at least for fantasy purposes. He won’t hit a career-long score every week, but the well-paid wideout certainly looked like a focal point of the Packers’ passing attack today. He will be in the WR2 mix when the Packers take on the Jets.

Barkley was a non-factor through the air and was almost as inefficient on the ground. His 83 rushing yards were boosted by an impressive 42-yard run he ripped off in the second quarter when he broke a tackle and made his way upfield for the big gain, evading two other defenders before eventually being brought down. The Eagles ran only one play at/inside the Commanders’ 10-yard line, which limited Barkley’s scoring chances. He should be positioned for a nice bounce-back week in next week’s game against the Titans, where he can be viewed as an RB1 for fantasy purposes.

Washington briefly subbed in on the first drive, but did not touch the ball until the second. Raiders coach Klint Kubiak got him heavily involved early on the third drive, dialing up three consecutive runs, which Washington efficiently turned into 32 yards, but things cooled off after that. The rookie looks just as powerful and explosive as he did in the preseason, and he remains an elite bench stash, but Washington’s standalone FLEX viability is shaky. He does not need to be in fantasy lineups against the Chargers next week.

Sadiq’s rushing score came on a first quarter end-around. This was a strong debut for the No. 16 overall pick, especially since Geno Smith attempted only 24 passes in an easy road victory. Awesome stuff, though Pro Football Focus did chart Sadiq as being easily out-snapped by Mason Taylor. It’s obviously promising that getting Sadiq the ball was a point of emphasis when he was on the field, but his No. 2 status in his own position group is going to make him a no-go in the top 12 for the time being.

Kyler Murray left in the first quarter with a head injury, but even Carson Wentz is good enough to keep the fantasy points flowing for Jefferson. Wentz found his star receiver on a deep end zone shot late in the second quarter and put the final nail in the coffin with a nine-yard strike to Jettas late in the fourth. Jefferson has now matched his 2025 touchdown total. Even with Wentz likely under center for Week 2, Jefferson will remain near the top of the WR1 conversation versus the Bears.

This is about a standard Otton statline, though this one came on a day where Baker Mayfield attempted fewer than 30 passes. With Jalen McMillan sidelined, Otton probably would have exceeded five catches had the Bucs not kept killing drives with sacks and turnovers, alas. Otton is always good for a few PPR points on the back end of the TE2 ranks, but that appears to be his ceiling heading in to his age-27 campaign.

It was an up-and-down performance for Hurts, who faced plenty of resistance from a revamped Commanders defense that managed three sacks of Hurts on the day. Despite the offensive struggles the Eagles had at times, Hurts came up with enough big plays to offset some of those struggles, with the first being an impressive 64-yard throw to Dontayvion Wicks that put the ball on Washington’s six-yard line. That play was followed by a holding call that moved the Eagles back 10 yards, but Hurts connected with Dallas Goedert three plays later for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Eagles their first score of the day. Hurts would later connect with Wicks on a nine-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter after Wicks gained separation in the end zone to position himself for the short score. Hurts and Goedert would link up again in the fourth quarter for another score after the pair took advantage of a confused Commanders defense for a 43-yard touchdown that put the Eagles up 24-16 with less than six minutes to go in the quarter. It wasn’t a great debut for first-time offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, but Hurts and company did enough to overcome a surprisingly gritty Commanders defense to pick up their first win of the season. Hurts will be in the fantasy QB1 conversation next week when the Eagles visit the Titans.