NFL Player News

Winfield had a $21 million base salary that was shifted to a minimum salary and bonus, with the Bucs also adding a void year. He signed a four-year, $84.1 million contract last offseason and now Tampa Bay frees up $15.86 million in cap space for 2025 by restructuring a contract that ends in 2027. The Bucs also restructured WR Mike Evans’ contract, though it was not for any cap savings. Evans had some compensation moved forward to pay him sooner, but cap space was not created.

Achane turned 21 touches into 112 yards, still making up the lion’s share of the Dolphins offense. The spike weeks have not come for Achane with the Dolphins getting limited scoring opportunities amidst the struggles at quarterback and transition to Quinn Ewers. Still, Achane’s heavy usage as a runner and pass-catcher has kept him in the RB1 range. His first carry did not come until the second quarter, but the Dolphins ultimately ran the ball 30 times, 18 going to Achane. He finishes the fantasy season as an RB1 heading into Week 18 against the Patriots.

Freiermuth saw 40 of his receiving yards come on the Steelers’ final drive of the game. The veteran tight end hauled in a 29-yard pass across the middle of the field to move the Steelers into the red zone, and came up with an 11-yard catch on the following play to put the Steelers within range for a touchdown. With Darnell Washington (broken arm) likely to miss next week and DK Metcalf still suspended, Freiermuth could see an uptick in targets in next week’s game against the Ravens.

He left the game briefly at the end of the first quarter, but returned and played 50-of-58 snaps. The Jaguars sat on most Colts underneath stuff, forcing Philip Rivers to throw deeper. That isn’t exactly Pittman’s game, so he mostly disappeared. We haven’t heard what the Colts will do in Week 18 directly from Shane Steichen yet but it wouldn’t be surprising if Pittman was a candidate to rest, as he’s not especially close to any real milestone numbers or contract incentives that we know of.

Musing during the week about the fact he had not scored since Oct. 16/Week 7, Chase naturally responded with the 13th multi-score effort of his increasingly-illustrious career. No. 1 13-yard YAC job on a first quarter quick out. No. 2 was an eight-yarder on a second quarter goal-line slant. Leading 30-7 midway through the third quarter and 37-7 before the frame was through, the Bengals then took the air out of the ball for the entire fourth quarter. Stacking up absurd stats as always, Chase is just three receptions away from his second straight 120-catch campaign. He should be rocking and rolling early against the Browns in Week 18.

All that volume sure looks better when you score, but Etienne played 48-of-69 Jaguars snaps, rarely giving LeQuint Allen (13 snaps) any room to operate as a backup. He wasn’t especially close to scoring, and took just two carries for three yards in the red zone. Etienne will remain on the RB1 line against the Titans in Week 18, a game the Jaguars will definitely want to win to secure the AFC South title.

Fantasy managers counting on Gainwell to deliver a championship were left disappointed by Sunday’s results. Gainwell’s three receptions marked his fewest since Week 13, and he was unable to get anything of note going on the ground. Gainwell appeared to be wide open for a walk-in touchdown on the Steelers’ final pass attempt again, but was passed up for Marquez Valdes-Scantling on an end zone fade that was broken up. Gainwell should see plenty of involvement in next weeks’ game against the Ravens.

He lost a second score to a holding penalty, the Colts ended that drive with a Philip Rivers touchdown pass to Mo-Alie Cox. The Jaguars were essentially sitting on Taylor carries the entire game — it’s not like Rivers could threaten them over the top — and they’ve got a good enough rushing defense that Taylor was left trying to bounce plays outside for big plays. Taylor managed just nine carries for 19 yards in the second half. The Colts don’t have a major reason to play him in Week 18 against the Texans, but it isn’t completely out of the question that he tries to catch James Cook for the rushing crown after coming into today trailing by 43 yards. Colts will be tough plays against a Texans defense with something to play for in Week 18.

Darnold also fumbled twice, losing one of them. He was lucky to escape with “just” two giveaways, as the defender failed to complete the catch process on what would have been a horrid INT. Today’s shaky performance comes after last week’s stirring rally against the Rams, which itself came after an awful first half. Darnold has appeared far more “regular Darnold” in the second half of the season, but he has yet to crash to the degree he did for the Vikings in 2024’s biggest games. Hopefully that doesn’t happen in Week 18 as the ‘Hawks try to nail down the conference’s No. 1 seed against the 49ers.