NFL Player News

What It Means

Boyd will once again play under Brian Callahan after the veteran wideout agreed to a short-team deal worth up to $4.5 million. Expect Boyd to play a slot role after he logged 85.3% of his snaps inside last season.

On 91 targets in 2023, Boyd ranked 91st among his position with a 59.5 Pro Football Focus offensive rating while accounting for 67 receptions for 667 yards and 2 touchdowns and 1.15 yards per route run.

What It Means

Burrow suffered a strange, season-ending wrist injury in his throwing arm in Week 11 of the 2023 season, so it's encouraging to see him throwing in team-related activities already as he prepares for the 2024 season. The former first overall pick has dealt with an unfortunately high number of injuries since entering the league.

Notably, Burrow entered each of his last three seasons with injuries -- in 2021 he was recovering from his 2020 knee surgery, in 2022 he underwent an emergency appendectomy just before the season began, and in 2023 he was visibly hampered by his training camp calf strain for the first few weeks of the regular season. Given that he is already throwing again after his 2023 injury, hopefully Burrow can enter this season healthy for the first time since his rookie year.

What It Means

Penny spent most of the last season on the Philadelphia Eagles' bench, but could get a chance for more playing time with the Panthers with their murky running back situation.

The Panthers' running back room includes Miles Sanders, Chuba Hubbard, and now second round rookie Jonathon Brooks, who is recovering from knee surgery. The team benched Sanders in favor of Hubbard during the 2023 season, but did not seem especially committed to Hubbard following the year. While Brooks should be expected to be their top rusher when he is available, he suffered a torn ACL last November and may not be ready by Week 1.

That gives Penny an actual chance of earning work with the Panthers come Week 1. When we last saw him handle a legitimate workload, he was averaging 6.1 yards per carry for the Seattle Seahawks in 2022. If he still has that kind of juice, he could add a much-needed explosive element to Carolina's offense while they wait for Brooks to recover.

What It Means

Beckham's contract is reportedly worth $3 million guaranteed with incentives worth up to $8.25. Expect the veteran to play a third receiver role behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

On 62 targets last season, Beckham ranked 32nd among his position with a 76.2 Pro Football Focus offensive rating while accounting for 35 receptions for 565 yards and 3 touchdowns.

What It Means

Harris is now set to become a free agent after the 2024 season, unless the two sides work out a separate new contract in the meantime. The former Alabama rusher has been the Steelers' go-to guy on the ground since entering the league as a first round pick, leading the team in rushing while posting at least 1,000 rushing yards in each of his first three campaigns.

While Harris should still operate as the team's lead back for the upcoming season, the team's decision not to pick up his option could be an early indicator that they have even bigger plans for RB2 Jaylen Warren in the future. Warren's workload doubled between his 2022 rookie season (105 touches) and his 2023 breakout (210 touches), but he still trailed Harris by 74 touches overall. We could see the gap between the two rushers' opportunities become even slimmer this year.

Both backs should still expect plenty of work under new OC Arthur Smith, whose Atlanta Falcons produced efficient rushing offenses while using multiple backs over each of the past few seasons.

What It Means

The move ensures that Pitts, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, will remain under contract with the Falcons through the 2025 season. The athletic pass-catcher suffered through a pair of injury-influenced down seasons in 2022 and 2023, but it feels fair to assume 2024 could be the best season of the young tight end's career.

Pitts amassed over 1,000 receiving yards as a 21-year-old rookie, joining Mike Ditka's rare company as the second tight end to ever accomplish the feat in their first season. He could recapture that upside in 2024 after the Falcons upgraded from Desmond Ridder to Kirk Cousins at quarterback.

Cousins has historically peppered his tight ends with targets when possible. Before his injury last season, he and Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson were averaging 6.6 catches for 59.8 yards and 0.4 touchdowns per game together. Pitts could thrive with similar volume in Atlanta.

What It Means

Gallup had been lingering on the free agent market, but now appears set to sign with the Raiders for the upcoming season. The Raiders' offense already has Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers under contract, so it would seem that Gallup would be in line for the team's WR3 job as long as he's healthy.

The former third-round pick appeared to be on the ascent after his breakout second season with the Cowboys, but suffered a tough knee injury that seemed to stymy his ability to produce. He's been kept under 450 yards in each of his last 3 seasons and has averaged 30 or fewer yards per game in each of his last 2. Hopefully the change in scenery and offensive scheme can help him find his playmaking ability again for 2024.

What It Means

The Cowboys entered the 2024 NFL Draft with a pretty clear need at running back and did nothing to address the need during the event. Instead, as rumors implied they would, the team is now working towards re-signing Elliott for the season, pending a physical examination.

Elliott spent his 2023 season operating as the Patriots' lead back, taking over for a banged up Rhamondre Stevenson throughout the year. He had few opportunities for big games in the Patriots' brutal offense, but still showed he can handle a full workload.

Elliott twice led the league in rushing while with the Cowboys and should see heavy work this season as he takes over a backfield of Malik Davis, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn.

What It Means

Fresh off winning a third Super Bowl in Kelce's tenure with the team, the Chiefs are making moves to keep Kelce under contract for the near future. Kelce again led the Chiefs in receiving during the 2023 NFL season, with 93 receptions for 984 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Though Kelce's regular season production dipped from previous seasons, he turned it back on during the playoffs, catching 32 passes for 355 yards and 3 scores across four games.

The Chiefs bolstered their receiving room ahead of the 2024 season, acquiring veteran field-stretcher Marquise Brown and drafting rookie wideout Xavier Worthy with a first round pick just last weekend. Even with increased competition for targets, Kelce should remain among the top tight ends in fantasy for the upcoming year.

What It Means

The Panthers were slated to open up Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft with the 33rd overall pick, but decided to jump back into the first round in last minute a trade with the Buffalo Bills. They used the 32nd overall pick to select Xavier Legette out of South Carolina.

Legette broke out for the Gamecocks this past year, flashing exciting athleticism on tape while recording 71 catches for 1,255 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was the engine of South Carolina's 2023 offense and could slot in as the Panthers WR1 as early as Week 1.

Legette's on-tape athleticism matched his testing at the NFL Combine, where he sprinted to an elite 4.39-second 40-yard dash. The 6'1", 220lb is a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands and could give the Panthers some much needed yards-after-catch ability a year after 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young's receivers finished dead last in YAC per reception (4.1 yards).