Fantasy Football News

According to a report from NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, Le'Veon Bell turned down a five-year, $70 million contract extension from the PIttsburgh Steelers on Monday. (Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Monday was the final day for the two sides to work out an extension and it appears the Steelers made a good-faith effort to do so. Bell will instead earn $14.5 million under the franchise for another year and is likely to become a free agent in 2019.

Cornerback Sam Beal, who was selected by the Giants in the third round of the NFL Supplemental Draft, has agreed to a four-year rookie contract with the team. (Source: ProFootballTalk)

Fantasy Impact: Beal found himself academically ineligible during his last season at Western Michigan, which is how we wound up in the Supplemental Draft. With former first-round pick Eli Apple disappointing in his first two seasons and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie getting released earlier in the offseason, the cornerback-needy Giants are an obvious landing spot for Beal. He will have the opportunity to compete for playing time right away.

The New York Jets waived WR Devin Smith, the team's second-round selection in 2015. Smith tore his ACL for the second time last spring and could receive an injury settlement from the club in the unlikely event that he is claimed by another NFL squad. (Source: Adam Schefter via twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Smith has only played 14 games since being taken with the No. 37 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. At 26, the former Ohio State speedster is going to have a difficult time getting his NFL career back on track.

Darren Sproles announced over the weekend that the 2018 season will be his last. He intended for 2017 to be his last season, reports Les Bowen of Philly.com, but he reconsidered after suffering a torn ACL that ended his season, wanting to leave the game on his own terms. (Source: Les Bowen, Philly.com)

Fantasy Impact: Sproles resigned with the Eagles in the Spring but returns to a crowded running back room in Philadelphia. Jay Ajayi remains as the team's lead back, while Corey Clement figures to have a bigger role after a breakout season and solid production in the playoffs, including 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in the Super Bowl. He is a leading candidate to return punts and kicks for the Eagles, but his touches on offense may be limited from week to week.

The Dallas Cowboys and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence are not expected to reach a long-term deal before the 4 p.m. Monday deadline. (Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Lawrence, who had 14.5 sacks and 58 total tackles last season, is a safe bet to perform as a top-tier defensive end.

Jim Wyatt of titansonline.com previewed the Tennessee Titans' receiving corps and thinks that second-year wideout Corey Davis will have a significant role for the club in 2018. "The Titans are counting on Davis to make a big leap in Year 2," wrote Wyatt, who also noted Davis looked smooth during the offseason, snatching the ball out of the air with ease in traffic. He went up high to make some spectacular catches." (Source: titansonline.com)

Fantasy Impact: The 2017 No. 5 overall pick played nearly full-time starting in Week 10 and had multiple receptions in nine of Tennessee's final 10 contests, including a two-touchdown performance in the Divisional Round loss to New England. Davis is slated to open the season as a starter in an offense that will be engineered by play-caller Matt LaFleur, whose offenses have led the NFL in scoring in consecutive seasons. Davis has breakout potential in Year Two.

Stefon Diggs stated during an interview on ProFootballTalk that he will let his contract "handle itself" as he enters the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. (Source: ProFootballTalk)

Fantasy Impact: Diggs finished with 64 receptions for 849 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns last season. The 24-year-old WR could be in line for a career-year in 2018 with Kirk Cousins under center for the Vikings. Diggs will be looking for his first 1,000-yard season in his fourth year in the league as he looks for a big payday next offseason. This is just additional motivation for an already highly skilled and motivated player. Diggs is currently the 34th player off the board according to ADP which could be a steal for a motivated talent like Diggs.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, 30-year-old veteran free agent running back DeMarco Murray has chosen to retire from the NFL. Murray drew some interest in the offseason after being released by the Titans in March. The former Cowboys, Eagles and Titans Pro Bowler will hang them up with 7,174 career rushing yards and 55 total touchdowns. (Source: Adam Schefter via twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Murray fell off career-low 3.6 yards-per-carry and 659 rushing yards last season, indicating his days as a workhorse were likely over. He might have latched on as a part-timer in training camp, but Murray instead is choosing to walk away from the NFL after seven seasons.

According to Jim Wyatt, senior writer for the Tennessee Titans website, the plan is for Derrick Henry to be the lead back. (Source: TitansOnline.com)

Fantasy Impact: After an offseason that saw the Titans bring in Dion Lewis, expectations were for the two to split the workload. What that split would look like is unknown for now, but it's unlikely that Lewis becomes an afterthought considering his pass-catching ability. Based on draft costs, it's still wise to temper your expectations with Henry considering Lewis can be had multiple rounds later.

Marcell Dareus is being accused of sexual assault in two separate lawsuits. One is for an incident in January 2017 from a Las Vegas woman. Now a Texas woman is alleging he assaulted her and gave her a sexually transmitted disease. (Source: The Florida Times-Union)

Fantasy Impact: The Jaguars have declined to comment on the issue and Dareus is awaiting a dismissal hearing for the first suit which will take place on August 9. The off-field issues continue for the defensive tackle but in the interim, the league has not commented on any potential punishment.

Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann of SBNation's Mile High Report says that rookie wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton is in competition for the starting slot receiver job to open the season. (Source: SBNation)

Fantasy Impact: This seemed like a job that was destined to go to Carlos Henderson after they spent a third-round pick on him last year, but it's rumored that he's now on the roster bubble after failing to stay healthy and get on the field. Hamilton himself was a fourth-round pick in this year's draft and may not come with the upside that Henderson did, but he's a precise route-runner who should be able to succeed out of the slot. The question is whether or not they move Emmanuel Sanders into the slot in order to find a home for second-round pick Courtland Sutton, who is a perimeter wide receiver. There's still a whole lot to be decided on the Broncos depth chart, so we'll be watching it closely throughout the preseason, but we suspect it'll be Demaryius Thomas and Sanders in two-wide sets, with Hamilton coming on the field when they go three-wide.

LeSean McCoy is denying allegations of domestic abuse that were posted by a friend of his girlfriend earlier today on Instagram. McCoy recently posted a note on Twitter, saying, "For the record, the totally baseless and offensive claims made against me today on social media are completely false. Further more, I have not had any direct contact with any of the people involved in months." (Source: LeSean McCoy on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: The Buffalo Bills have already reportedly stated that they are aware of the allegations and are looking into them. In addition to accusing McCoy of domestic violence against his girlfriend, the Instagram post includes claims of domestic violence against their young son, abusing his dog to the point of kidney failure, and using illegal steroids. The NFL has a zero-tolerance policy for both domestic violence and illegal substances, which make these allegations that much more troubling for McCoy and the Bills. If proven true, this would likely be the end of McCoy's career. However, the situation is ongoing and McCoy himself has now already denied the accusations.

In a recent interview with PalmBeachPost, Dolphins head coach Adam Gase was asked about Frank Gore being 35 years old this season. His response was, "It's irrelevant. He's a different dude." (Source: PalmBeachPost)

Fantasy Impact: It was puzzling when the Dolphins signed Gore, so this should really come as no shock. Gase was on the same team as Gore back in 2008 when he served as an offensive assistant on the 49ers, so there is a history between the two. Still, it'd be odd if Gase decided to take away touches from 2017's breakout star Kenyan Drake, who has totaled 823 yards on 166 career carries behind a sub-par offensive line to this point (5.0 yards per carry), while Gore has averaged just 3.8 yards per carry over the last three years. Gore is the type of running back who will hold a lead for your team by not losing yards on carries, but the Dolphins (similar to the Colts in 2017) are not a team that is built for that. We'd be shocked if Gore averaged more than 30 percent of the snaps this season, making him a non-factor in fantasy. Meanwhile, Drake should be considered a low-end RB2.

Scott Patsko of Cleveland.com is reporting that new offensive coordinator Todd Haley is open to anything with the backfield, but said, "It will be determined by what they are capable of handling on a down-in, down-out basis." (Source: Cleveland.com)

Fantasy Impact: This is obviously big news for Johnson, as neither Carlos Hyde nor Nick Chubb have been known to be great receivers out of the backfield. Some will say that Hyde posted solid totals under Kyle Shanahan last year, but it was extremely volume-driven rather than skill-driven. In the interview, Haley went on to say, "I've done it both ways. We led the league in rushing in Kansas City (2010) in a two-back, almost a two-and-a-half back system. Then in Pittsburgh obviously, when Le'Veon Bell was playing, he was playing." The three-year extension for Johnson says a lot about the team's plans for him in the offense, but this appears to be more of the two-and-a-half back system that Haley had back in Kansas City. It would be a major surprise if anyone in this backfield netted more than 220 touches in 2018, making it one that'll be incredibly hard to predict.

Leonard Fournette expects to enter training camp at 224 pounds, which is 11 pounds lighter than he was last season, John Reid of The Florida Times-Union reports. "I feel like I play my best at that weight -- 223, 224 -- that's what I played in college," the second-year running back said. "Why not? I don't want to be average. I want to be above average, be the greatest one to play this game. I feel lighter, quicker and I have a lot of my burst." (Source: Jacksonville.com)

Fantasy Impact: Fournette is primed for a breakout year coming into his sophomore season. With Fournette being lighter may help to boost his yards per rush which were only 3.9 per attempt last year. The 23-year-old running back needs to be on fantasy owners lists before their drafts.

According to a report from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is expected to be a major part of the team's offense in 2018. (Source: ESPN)

Fantasy Impact: Smith-Schuster turned in an exceptional rookie campaign, racking up 917 yards and seven touchdowns. Fowler predicts that Smith-Schuster will see at least 100 targets in his sophomore season. Smith-Schuster drew 79 targets in his rookie season but will no longer have to contend with Martavis Bryant, who is now in Oakland. He should be treated as a low-end WR2 for fantasy purposes in 2018.

Dante Fowler Jr. has been unable to participate in offseason activities to this point with an undisclosed upper body injury. Fowler reportedly lost a lot of upper body muscle mass during his recovery. (Source: 1010xl.com)

Fantasy Impact: Dante Fowler Jr. has all the tools to develop into an elite pass rusher, but came into the league as a raw prospect. Fowler is missing crucial practice reps for a young player. Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue are locked into the starting roles so Fowler needs to be healthy to continue to earn a significant role. Fowler is also looking to cash in on a new contract after Jacksonville declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.

The NFL denied Julian Edelman's appeal of his four-game suspension on Tuesday. He will miss the first four games of the season. (Source: Adam Schefter on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Although there was some thought that Edelman could have his suspension at least reduced, it was not to be. He will miss games against the Texans, Jaguars, Lions, and Dolphins. Chris Hogan will likely benefit substantially, but Rob Gronkowski should see an even higher share of targets in Edelman's absence. Edelman should return as a WR2 immediately after his suspension ends, so don't dock him too far in your draft rankings.

Reuben Foster has been given a two-game suspension for violating NFL conduct and substance abuse policies. The violations are a result of a weapons offense and a misdemeanor drug offense, both of which were resolved earlier this year. (Source: San Francisco 49ers)

Fantasy Impact: It's a relatively light punishment considering how the league has handled other cases in recent memory involving similar offenses. From a fantasy perspective, IDP players can still draft Foster and expect solid return from the young linebacker. The only concern now is if he can avoid injury based on his style of play. Foster has dealt with various injuries including ankle and shoulder problems in his short NFL career.

Packers RB Aaron Jones has been suspended for the first two games of the 2018 regular season for a violation of the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. (Source: Rob Demovsky on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Jones will be eligible to return to the Packers for their Week 3 game on Monday, September 17. This suspension likely is related to his arrest for marijuana possession last year. With Jones out the first two weeks, Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery will see an uptick in carries and fantasy value the first two weeks of the season and give them a chance to take the job and run with it early in the season. Slightly drop Jones down the fantasy RB rankings.