NFL

With Matthew Stafford likely to have another limited training camp as he manages a back issue for the second straight year, rookie No. 13 pick Ty Simpson and former fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett are battling for the backup role. Though the team wants Jimmy Garoppolo back, the vet is mulling retirement, leading to one of these two unproven arms to be thrust into the backup quarterback role. Atkins reports Bennett took reps first in Stafford’s two missed practices in minicamp but neither Bennett nor Simpson “were able to stand out ahead of the other.” The Rams consider the backup role a significant void “with Stafford’s need to take time off and with the risk from each time Stafford takes a hit”, according to Atkins. A season in which Stafford misses time due to injury already decreases the Rams’ contention odds and an unprepared Simpson or Bennett as QB2 would be costly. Both will have time for developmental reps in camp and Simpson is worth rostering in Dynasty fantasy football formats.

“Sometimes I am a little irritated with my situation,” Mims added. “But at the end of the day, I’m blessed to be where I am.” The Jaylen Waddle trade has effectively blocked Mims from much chance of offensive snaps as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. At the same time, he’s such an explosive punt returner that the Broncos probably still see him as a roster lock. It’s not fully over for those of you hanging on in dynasty leagues, but it certainly doesn’t look promising in the short-term for Mims to put up any offensive volume.

The Falcons had previously waffled a bit on potentially making Pitts available after “President Of Football” Matt Ryan took over, but must have liked what they saw in the early offseason. Pitts currently looks to be slated for the No. 2 receiver role in Atlanta behind Drake London and should be a fantasy-viable TE1 this year. (Words that have never come back to bite anyone.) Pitts settles for slightly below George Kittle’s $19.1 million per year and Trey McBride’s $19 million per year and will remain in Atlanta for the near future.

Bell has been working extensively with the second team in drills, putting him in the conversation for a roster spot. Bell was an almost complete non-factor in the passing game at Georgia, with just 185 targets in four years. But he did also get manufactured touches on the ground. This probably says more about how Tai Felton is developing than any sort of fantasy shakeup for Minnesota’s passing game, but Bell looks to be on the radar to make a charge for a roster spot.

Benson reportedly had a strong connection with Fernando Mendoza during OTAs and minicamp and was a “go-to” target during team drills. Given how little is settled on the Vegas depth chart at wideout, we should at least be open to the odds that Benson could snag a major role with a strong training camp. He enters the deep sleeper conversation heading into training camp.

Bond appears to be the second-team slot receiver and has made plays with that group. Given that Jaylin Noel is already trying to make a real run at playing time behind Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Jayden Higgins, Bond probably doesn’t have much of a shot of fantasy value in 2026. This does help his case for a roster spot in training camp, though.

Allen has played with Colts head coach Shane Steichen when Steichen was calling plays with the Chargers, so the pairing makes some sense there. Boyd seems to believe that Alec Pierce’s ankle-related absence may make the Colts try a play for a veteran wideout. It would be a weird fit between Allen and Josh Downs to have the offense revolve around two slot-majority wideouts if Pierce weren’t ready for the start of the regular season.

Sanders broke his ankle in Week 17 against the Seahawks, ending his season. It would seem that he’s on track to participate in training camp, and this report doesn’t really dwell on if he’ll be a possibility for the PUP list. In theory, Sanders could still emerge as the preferred pass-catching option at the position for the Panthers. In actuality, the 2024 fourth-rounder probably would have made more strides in either of the past two years if that was going to happen. He’s simply a TE3 hold in deep leagues at this point.

By declining to hold a supplemental draft for Brendan Sorsby, the NFL appears to have ruffled the litigation hornet’s nest. Kessler said that he will “pursue this immediately with the NFLPA.” Where this leads from here, beyond several attorney’s fees, is unknown. The NFL asserted “sole discretion to determine whether it is appropriate to conduct a Supplemental Draft in any given year” in their letter to Sorsby that was leaked earlier today. Well, this’ll give us something to blurb about for the next month or so anyway. It’s worth pointing out that the NFL has not taken kindly to past litigation against it by Brian Flores and that it’s possible that a ruling in favor of Sorsby may not necessarily end with him being drafted.

Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby was the only applicant for the supplemental draft and the league decided to punt him to the 2027 NFL Draft, noting in a letter to Sorsby “The issues presented by your Petition are too significant, and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests, to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented.” The letter also says that “after receiving notice of the NCAA’s decision rescinding your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the consequences of that determination through litigation rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, and you pursued entry into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts.” It doesn’t seem like the NFL was very interested in Brendan Sorsby’s supplemental draft storyline existing, so they simply decided not to let it awaken here. Where this leaves Sorsby this year is up for debate, but seemingly this ends the NFL storyline for the 2026 season barring more litigation.