Fantasy Football News

Kick returns are back, and so is Cordarrelle Patterson: The four-time All-Pro returner and all-around weapon is signing with the Steelers on a two-year, $6M deal.

Aggressive move by Omar Khan and a reunion for Arthur Smith and Patterson, who just turned 33.

Related Players: Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren

Patterson wasn't used much in the offense last season, accruing only 50 rushing attempts and 11 targets in 14 games. The signing doesn't do a whole lot for fantasy purposes, but it should be exciting to watch the all-around player exploit the new NFL kickoff rules, regardless.

Wide receiver Quez Watkins is signing with the Steelers.

Related Players: George Pickens, Van Jefferson, Dez Fitzpatrick, Calvin Austin

The Steelers receiver room suddenly looks like a bunch of WR2/3s. As it stands, Watkins figures to work mainly out of the slot with Pickens and Jefferson on the outside. With Diontae Johnson shipped to the Panthers earlier this month, the team is very likely to address the position in the NFL Draft.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin reiterated that Russell Wilson “has pole position” to be the starting QB. Not against competition. And “when it’s time to compete, Justin will be given an opportunity to show his capabilities.”

He said Justin Fields “oozes talent.”

Wilson deserves to have competition after his showing in Denver, but in the early stages, it looks as if it's his job to lose. He should be considered off the radar in typical 1QB leagues, but if anything were to happen that granted Fields the job, the latter would be right back in QB1 conversations.

The full trade compensation:
-- Eagles get QB Kenny Pickett and the Steelers original 4th round pick (120 overall) in 2024.
-- Steelers get Eagles 3rd round comp pick (98 overall) and the Eagles highest two 7th round draft picks in 2025.

Related Players: Russell Wilson

This clears the runway for Russell Wilson to take over the starting role throughout the offseason. Pickett will be in pole position to backup Jalen Hurts.

The Steelers are sending WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. A new weapon for Bryce Young. Johnson has a $3 million roster bonus due Friday that the Panthers now will pay.

Related Players: George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Dez Fitzpatrick, Adam Thielen, Terrace Marshall, Jonathan Mingo

This is certainly good news for Bryce Young after the team brought him on board with arguably the worst pass-catching unit in the NFL last year. Johnson should instantly become the focal point of this offense, but the team still desperately needs help at WR, TE, and RB before we get too excited about the Panthers in fantasy.

For the Steelers, this also has them trending in the wrong direction on excitement-level, but it makes George Pickens very intriguing. This puts him in the conversation for a fringe WR2/3, not unlike Courtland Sutton with Russell Wilson the last two seasons.

Nine-time Pro-Bowl QB and former Super-Bowl champ Russell Wilson plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per league sources. Wilson will sign a team-friendly, one-year deal in which the Broncos will wind up paying $38 million of his salary while Wilson wears the black and yellow.

Related Players: Kenny Pickett

The new pairing of Wilson and OC Arthur Smith is a clear upgrade on the last two seasons of Matt Canada/Kenny Pickett/Mason Rudolph. Though Wilson himself is unlikely to be a weekly starter in typical 1QB leagues, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and even Pat Freiermuth should all get a tick upwards.

Smith should form a gameplan that will include play action and middle-of-the-field targets that were missing from the offense in 2023.

The Broncos are strongly considering having QB Russell Wilson sit for the final two games, preserving financial flexibility for the offseason.

Wilson has $37M in 2025 salary that vests in March of 2024, and if he suffered a serious injury, it would complicate matters.

Related Players: Jarrett Stidham

Well this is quite the bombshell. The Broncos have a very good fantasy matchup coming up this weekend, as Wilson was in-line for a face-off against a pedestrian Chargers defense. Stidham offers a decent top-18 option, if he were to get the nod. We'll keep an eye on this story for the rest of the week.

DeVonta Smith hadn’t been practicing in full because of a knee injury. This latest inclusion on the report is for a new knee injury he suffered in the game.

Related Players: A.J. Brown, Julio Jones, Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus

A.J. Brown could me in for a monster workload as the Eagles begin the easiest stretch of their season. None of the receiving options behind him should be trusted if Smith were to miss this week.

Steelers have everyone status quo or updated on today’s injury report except Isaac Seumalo (DNP again) and Diontae Johnson, who missed with a knee injury. TJ Watt (full) and Alex Highsmith (limited) remain on track. Najee Harris and Damontae Kazee were full participants.

Related Players: George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Allen Robinson

Johnson has been very unproductive since his first three games off the IR, topping 50 yards receiving only once in the last five games (57 yards last week). His catch rate has plummeted to 56.1%, which ranks 90th out of 100 qualifying receivers.
George Pickens was routinely productive while Johnson was sidelined, and has four games with 80+ receiving yards on the season. He would get a nice bump if his teammate were to miss Week 15.

Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) is expected to play tonight vs. the Patriots,

Related Players: Jaylen Warren

Despite not practicing this week, Harris is expected to suit up, barring a setback. If he's active, he will continue to split the workload with back-mate Jaylen Warren, who may have the larger upside. Both should be considered RB3s ahead of a tough matchup.