April 2025 4for4 Player News Articles

The Browns are signing veteran WR Diontae Johnson, sources say. Cleveland brought the former Steelers and Ravens pass catcher in for a visit today, and the sides then agreed to a deal. Back to the AFC North for Johnson.

Related Players: Cedric Tillman, Jamari Thrash, Jerry Jeudy, DeAndre Carter, David Bell

This is a fantastic depth chart to land on for Johnson, but it would be all but impossible to trust him on fantasy squads after the tour of the NFL he's been on over the last year. If he gets cut and goes to the Bengals, he will have earned the ultra-rare Grand Slam tour of the entire division.

The Steelers are signing veteran WR Robert Woods to a 1-year, $2M deal. A new target and big-time locker room presence for… whoever their QB ends up being. The former Texans WR lands in a great spot.

Related Players: DK Metcalf, George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson

Should Woods stick on the team until the regular season, he'll have more of an impact keeping sophomore Roman Wilson on the field than he would for the top of the depth chart. We'll have to wait and see how things shake out with Pickens' status as a Steeler throughout the summer.

George Kittle and the 49ers have agreed to a four-year, $76.4 million extension.

The $19.1 million AAV is a record at the tight end position.

Related Players: Luke Farrell, Brayden Willis

It was rumored that the 49ers might be interested in grabbing a guy near the top of the NFL Draft, but when that didn't come to fruition, the next logical step was locking in their stud tight end. Kittle will remain a focal point of the offense and stays put as a top-3 fantasy option.

The Lions have exercised the 2026 fifth-year team options on DE Aidan Hutchison and WR Jameson Williams.

Related Players: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond, Tom Kennedy

Good news for fantasy, as there aren't many better places for Williams to be than alongside ARSB and Sam LaPorta clogging up the middle of defenses. Williams should continue to operate as a nice boom-bust WR3 option, even if the Lions tack on some WR talent through the NFL Draft.

Former Seahawks legend Tyler Lockett is signing with the Titans on a 1-year, $4M deal with a chance to get to $6M.

Related Player: Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson, Treylon Burks

Solid signing to add some more stability to the WR room ahead of the (presumptive) selection of QB Cam Ward at No. 1. This doesn't at all preclude the team from grabbing some more pieces through the Draft, and Lockett is more of a role player than one who the offense runs through at this point of his career, so he should be considered a deep WR5 flier in fantasy land.

Buffalo Pro-Bowl running back James Cook did not report to the start of the Bills’ voluntary offseason program. Cook is heading into the final year of his rookie contract and would like a new deal.

Related Players: Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, Darrynton Evans, Frank Gore Jr.

The Bills are equipped to head into the season sans Cook, but no one behind him on the depth chart has the same do-it-all functionality as the RB1. We'll keep an eye on this, but it's still too early in the process to panic about Cook's availability.

Cardinals WR Greg Dortch signed the restricted free-agent tender one-year, $3.3 million offer extended to him in March.

Related Players: Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Zay Jones

This doesn't preclude the Cardinals from adding another WR in the Draft, but it does give them some insurance if they miss out on anyone until later on Day 3. Dortch is still looking to build on a nice 52-462-2 sophomore season he had back in 2022, but shouldn't be on anyone's fantasy radar.

The Saints suddenly have a major QB question: Starter Derek Carr is now dealing with a shoulder injury that threatens his availability for this season, sources say.

Carr is weighing options, including the possibility of surgery.

Related Players: Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener, Ben DiNucci

If Carr is legitimately questionable for the 2025 season, the Saints' first and second round picks could go in far different directions than they are currently projected. As it stands before the NFL Draft, we would assume that Rattler is going to be the temporary name atop the depth chart as we wait to see how this plays out for Carr and his shoulder.

Reunion: Veteran QB Drew Lock agreed to terms with the Seahawks.

One of the pieces of the Russell Wilson trade, Lock is now back for a second stint in Seattle, this time backing up Sam Darnold.

Related Players: Sam Howell, Jaren Hall

Lock will battle with Howell for No. 2 duties behind Sam Darnold, and both are pretty interesting deep stashes in Superflex Dynasty leagues, due to a decent pass-catching group that could grow even stronger through the NFL Draft.

Reunion: the Cleveland Browns and veteran quarterback Joe Flacco reached agreement today on a one-year, $4 million deal worth up to $13 million with incentives. Flacco now will return to Cleveland, where he won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023.

Flacco also spoke with the Steelers and Vikings but opted to spend his 18th NFL season with the Browns.

Related Players: Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett

It's interesting that the team didn't just retain Jameis Winston, considering he signed a very similar deal with the Giants earlier this offseason. Regardless, Flacco will team up with Pickett as the veteran backstops in case a potential rookie option needs time to get up to speed in the league.

The Colts have released kicker Matt Gay, their kicker the last two seasons.

Related Players: Spencer Shrader

Shrader is next in line for kicking duties after this absolute bombshell.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be limited in the spring as he continues to recover from surgery to repair the AC joint in his left shoulder and is on schedule to be fully cleared by the time training camp begins.

Jaguars coach Liam Coen said that there isn't yet a set plan for how much throwing Lawrence will do but that Lawrence is being monitored by vice president of player health and performance Jeff Ferguson and Will Wynkoop, his personal strength coach, as the offseason program progresses.

Related Players: Nick Mullens, John Wolford

Lawrence had surgery on his shoulder on December 17th, the same shoulder he had worked on back in February of 2021. In a new offensive scheme under Liam Coen and OC Grant Udinski, it would be nice to see him out there through most of the offseason program, but we'll keep an eye on the situation.

At the league meeting this week, 49ers GM John Lynch said he expected WR Brandon Aiyuk to stick in 2025. His 2026 option-bonus guarantee triggered yesterday. He’s owed $24.875m this year, $27m in ’26. The $76m that was effectively guaranteed at signing is now fully guaranteed.

Related Players: Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing

This is likely the best case sceanrio for the 49ers and Brock Purdy's fantasy aspirations, but it's hard to say if it's a positive for Aiyuk. That would have all depended on his eventual landing spot, but it seems like we'll have to wait at least one more year for that shoe to drop. Consider the vet somewhere in the back-end WR3 range for now, with Jennings a tier or two above that.