Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 6

The Chicago Bears are acquiring wide receiver Chase Claypool in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a source told ESPN's Field Yates on Tuesday.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Miles Boykin, Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis, Velus Jones, Byron Pringle

The Bears are getting a second-round pick in return, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Claypool started the season slow, and his name immediately became mentioned as a trade candidate. But over the last four weeks he's posted lines of 5-50-0, 7-96-1, 5-41 and 4-45-0. He should slide right in as the team's WR2 behind Mooney in what is a run-first offense for the Bears. Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, Pickett's value should increase as he and Johnson should see a few more targets. Boykin slides into the WR3 role for the Steelers.

Panthers ruled out RB Chuba Hubbard for Sunday's game against the Falcons due to an ankle injury.

Related Players: D'Onta Foreman

D'Onta Foreman was already in the mix during the Panthers' first post-Christian McCaffrey game, with Raheem Blackshear in action as the third option. Blackshear took his first two career rushes for gains of -1 and -4 yards while Foreman took 17 touches and turned them into 145 yards and a touchdown. Foreman should be a solid RB2 in fantasy lineups this week.

DA says the decision to go with Andy Dalton is a an “offensive decision.”

Related players: Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill

The tweet added the Saints are going to continue what they’re doing with Dalton. Head coach Dennis Allen said that Winston is healthy but it's all about performance. Hill will likely steal some work at the QB spot as well, but Dalton could at least be a streaming option in deeper, two QB leagues.

As this week of preparation begins, I’m told that Jameis Winston still isn’t 100% healthy yet.

Related players: Andy Dalton, Taysom Hill

The tweet went on to say we’ll see how that impacts the team at QB this week. If Winston can't go, Dalton likely gets the call with Hill mixing in. The Saints host the Raiders in a nice matchup in an early Sunday game.

Stunner: Panthers are trading Pro-Bowl RB Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for draft picks, sources tell ESPN.

McCaffrey returns to the Bay Area, where he attended Stanford.

Related players: D'Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard, Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson

This should enhance McCaffrey's value since the 49ers run a more competent offense than the Panthers. Elijah Mitchell is no longer expected to be a fantasy starter upon his return from injury, and can be dropped if necessary. He's an attrition RB2 now. Jimmy Garoppolo should benefit by having such a good receiving back to throw to, but targets are already at a premium, so Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle each take a slight hit. In Carolina, we'll likely see a committee consisting of D'Onta Foreman on early downs and Chuba Hubbard as a third-down/change-of-pace back. On the season, Foreman has played 31 snaps while Hubbard has played 30. Foreman has 12 touches (all carries), while Hubbard has six carries and one reception.

"Signs are pointing towards" Andy Dalton making his fourth consecutive start. Though Jameis Winston is off the injury report, he has not gone through a full practice since Week 1.

Related Players: Taysom Hill

Both Jarvis Landry and Michael Thomas have already been declared out which makes Dalton a very easy fade in fantasy this week, particularly when we know that Taysom Hill will have his own packages to work out of. Speaking of Hill, he is a must-start at TE unless you have one of the elite, top-three options.

Nathaniel Hackett said Melvin Gordon will start Sunday at running back.

Related players: Latavius Murray, Mike Boone

The tweet went on to say the two had a discussion about the veteran’s role on Tuesday, but said the contents of the conversation will kept private. Gordon will be tough to trust unless you don't really have many other options in Week 7 full of byes. Murray actually looked good running the ball last week, so it's hard to believe he won't have a role.

Nathaniel Hackett said moving forward they’ll need all 3 RBs.

Related players: Melvin Gordon, Latavius Murray, Mike Boone

Hackett totally avoided answering a question about why Gordon got limited time in the first half and no snaps in the second half, the tweet said. Fantasy owners would like to know as well. Hackett went on to say they didn’t have many plays in the second half and he thought Murray ran well. Obviously, Gordon can't be trusted heading into Week 7. It will be interesting to see how the Broncos address their running game. But with an injured Russell Wilson at QB and a lackluster offense, they have bigger problems.