Team news: Pittsburgh Steelers | Page 15

The Buffalo Bills are signing former Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling a 1 year deal worth up to $4.5 million, including a $1.125 million signing bonus.

Related Players: Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, Mack Hollins

We can basically look at this as a Gabe Davis replacement, but not exactly an upgrade. MVS will stretch defenses but shouldn't be considered anything more than a late-round best ball dart throw.

Former Falcons free-agent wide receiver Scotty Miller is reuniting with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in Pittsburgh on a one-year deal.

Related Players: Roman Wilson, Quez Watkins

Scott Miller will add some veteran insurance if rookie Roman Wilson takes long getting up to speed. Miller's last productive fantasy season was in 2020, when he finished with a 37-581-4 stat line.

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.

Speaking with NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero at the Annual League Meeting on Sunday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni noted how excited he is about the addition.

""I'm really excited about Saquon and the things that he can do," Sirianni said. "You know he's such a dynamic football player. Both as a running back and also the things he can do as a pass catcher. He's going to bring an element to our offense and to our team. As much as we see him, all the highlights that we see on the tape -- from my understanding and all of our homework he's a good leader and teammate, as well. To be able to add that into our locker room, and not only the playmaking ability, but the person, is really important."

Related Players: Kenneth Gainwell, Tyrion Davis-Price

Barkley should fill the role(s) of not only D'Andre Swift, but also Boston Scott, as the team let both walk in free agency while signing the veteran. Barkley is more than capable at filling both spots on the lineup card, and could be eating into Gainwell's touches as well. As long as he's healthy, he's a locked-in RB1.

Former Chargers WR Mike Williams is signing with the Jets on a 1-year deal worth up to $15M, another weapon for Aaron Rodgers. He’s on a visit there today.

Related Players: Garrett Wilson, Xavier Gipson, Allen Lazard

A 1-2 punch should do wonders for a struggling Jets WR group, and Williams offers a legit piece to whoever takes snaps at QB. Wilson is a great fringe WR1/2 option, while Williams is down in the WR2/3 range

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.

Former Giants RB Saquon Barkley reached agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract that could be worth up to $46.75M and includes $26M fully guaranteed at signing.

Related Players: Matt Breida, Kenneth Gainwell,

Barkley switches sides of the NFC East battle and lands in one of the best spots possible. His pure upside won't be quite as monstrous in Philly, as he competes for touches with legitimate options and will take a back seat to a number of "tush-pushes" but he still finds himself in a great offense. He's locked in as an RB1.

After playing well in Saturday’s victory over the Bengals, Mason Rudolph is once again in line to start for the Steelers in Week 17.

But head coach Mike Tomlin stopped short of saying Rudolph will definitely start on New Year’s Eve against the Seahawks.

Related players: Kenny Pickett

Via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Tomlin said Pickett — who’s recovering from ankle surgery — is still in the same position as he was last week. Rudolph will get the starter’s reps at the start of the practice week and the club will see where Pickett’s mobility is as the week continues, the story went on to say.

Mike Tomlin officially ruled out QB Kenny Pickett for Saturday’s game vs. Cincinnati. Steelers’ QB Mason Rudolph officially starts.

Related Players: Mitch Trubisky

It is very unlikely that Rudolph hits the ground running to bolster this anemic offense. The last time we saw a Mason Rudolph start was in Week 10 of the 2021 season, when it took him 52 dropbacks to grind out 242 yards, with 4.8 yards per attempt. He is a desperation-play Superflex option, even in a good matchup against the Bengals defense.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor returns to practice at full speed for the first time since thumb surgery. Whether he plays on Sunday will be determined by how he holds up.

"You've definitely got to see it full speed at practice for sure," Taylor said today.

Related Players: Trey Sermon, Tyler Goodson

With Zack Moss potentially looking at a multi-week absence, we have to assume Taylor will be getting a huge workload ahead of Sermon and Goodson, which makes him an RB1 option against the Falcons if he suits up.