It's official: Tee Higgins is locked in for '24! 🐅

What’s in store:

• Tee Higgins is officially under contract for 2024 ✍️. It’s not a long-term extension, but it’ll get him on the field this year.

• ‘They don’t want me back.’ 👀 See which player said this about their team amid stalling contract negotiations…

• Assessing the Dolphins loaded backfield 🐬 Who should we be targeting in South Beach?

• Could Davante Adams be set up for success in 2024? Don’t let a seemingly bas quarterback situation fool you…

• Bengals WR Tee Higgins officially signs franchise tag, set to play out 2024 season without long-term extension

  • After spending months on the schneid in search of a new contract extension, Higgins throws in the white towel and signs his $21.8M franchise tag to lock himself in with the Bengals for the 2024 season. According to sources, a long-term deal was highly unlikely ahead of kickoff in September, and Higgins mercifully spared fantasy managers of the headache that comes with a potential holdout like Brandon Aiyuk and Ceedee Lamb are reportedly weighing/taking part in. With Higgins slated to take the field as expected in Week 1, the fantasy prospects of rookie 3rd-round WR Jermaine Burton are a bit more clouded than they would have been without Higgins in the picture (should he have been traded). While Burton will see his stock fall, QB Joe Burrow will have both of his top weapons available for the third year in a row, boosting his stock slightly with the uncertainty of Higgins’ situation no longer looming over the team. It’s been an unsuccessful offseason from a business perspective for Higgins, who has requested trades and held out from signing the franchise tag without making any headway on a long-term extension. The 2024 season figures to be a prove-it year, especially after he missed more than five games last season while putting up career-low numbers across the board.

• 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk took to social media to share a conversation between himself and QB Jayden Daniels, saying that San Francisco ‘doesn’t want him back’

  • The smoke around a trade for the former 2020 first-round pick has been billowing since the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, and Aiyuk’s most recent post on Tiktok indicates that the rumors are unlikely to slow down any time soon. In a video posted to Aiyuk’s Tiktok, the current 49ers star can be seen discussing his future with his former QB at ASU, Jayden Daniels. In the video, Aiyuk tells Daniels that the 49ers ‘don’t want him back’ amid rumors that extension negotiations had broken down within the past few weeks. It’s abundantly clear at this point that there is tension between Aiyuk and the 49ers organization, but San Francisco has done nothing to suggest that a potential trade is imminent ahead of the 2024 season. The video comes on the heels of Aiyuk skipping mandatory 49ers minicamp in May and June, and it seems as though we could be headed towards a true holdout into the regular season if the 49ers are unwilling to pay up or move the pass catcher. While Ayiuk was speaking to Commanders QB Daniels about what seems to be a potential trade out of SF, it’s hard to imagine Washington making a blockbuster move for a receiver having drafted Luke McCaffrey and while having Terry McLaurin and first-round WR Jahan Dotson on the field, as well. Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on this situation as it unfolds; Aiyuk had the third-highest yards per route run of any player in 2023 (3.27), and commanding a true WR1 target share – something he’s been unable to do on a stacked 49ers offense – could help vault him into the elite WR1 conversation.

• The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly says that TE Pat Freiermuth has performed ‘better and more consistently’ than anyone at Steelers camp

  • Kaboly made specific note of the fourth-year tight end’s connection with QB Russell Wilson, and it wasn’t the first time the Steelers beat raved about Freiermuth this offseason, either. With Diontae Johnson out of the picture for 2024 and the Steelers drafting just Roman Wilson to operate presumably out of the slot this upcoming season, Freiermuth figures to slot in as Pittsburgh’s No. 2 target in the passing game behind George Pickens. That should bode well for his fantasy prospects in a TE-friendly Arthur Smith offensive scheme, and an alleged well-oiled connection between Freiermuth and Russell Wilson can only be construed positively heading into the regular season. Freiermuth’s 2023 season was incredibly quiet thanks to an injury that forced him to miss five games, as well as unconscionably bad quarterback play from the platoon of Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and Mitch Trubisky. That should hopefully improve with a veteran like Wilson taking snaps in Pittsburgh, especially after Freiermuth was forced to suffer through two years of sub-par QB play from one Kenny Pickett. Given a relatively affordable draft price in Underdog drafts (TE14), he’ll be worth a look for teams that punt on the position early or as a very solid depth piece with some breakout potential.

Miami’s got a great run scheme, and for fantasy, you want a piece of it - they were 6th in rushing yards, and three of the four teams in the top 6 had some sort of rushing output from their starting QB. As you can probably guess, the Dolphins did not - it was all De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert - and now they added another RB in the mix with Jaylen Wright. They liked him so much that they gave up a 3rd rounder in next year’s draft just to move up into the fourth and grab him. However, given the fact that Mike McDaniel just said that Mostert is still leading that room, I’m expecting this to remain a Mostert/Achane duo for now. I don’t expect this to be a 3-man backfield - RBs just don’t get into any sort of rhythm like that, so a duo makes the most sense.

Now, we’ve seen Achane get hurt last year and he’s a smaller back, and we’ve also seen Mostert get hurt on numerous occasions during his career. Mostert’s 32 years old, by the way, so there’s a decent chance we see Jaylen Wright get some work in some capacity this year. And if he does, I would probably want him in my lineup, even if one of the other backs are healthy and good to go - because I don’t think we see a workhorse game for any of these backs at any point this year.

If you look at these ADPs right now on Underdog, Achane is going off the board as the RB7, Raheem Mostert as the RB28 in the 7th, and Jaylen Wright as the RB47. I think when you look at the roles, Achane is not a workhorse given his size, and now with a third back like Wright in the mix who’ll likely get a shot if Mostert gets hurt, Achane has close to no shot at being a workhorse this year - so going off as the RB7 is definitely steep. But, he still has league winning and week winning type of upside because of how efficient he’s been, even with a 50% snap share. He was the RB5 in points/game last year - but Raheem Mostert was the RB4 in fantasy points/game, and Mostert had a 45 point outing last year.

Given the fact that guys like Kyren Williams and Derrick Henry are going right after Achane in drafts right now - I think I might pass at this price, and one of the reasons for that is because I think I’ll be trying to get Mostert at least for the games he is healthy for. And hey, if he gets hurt or is washed, it is what it is at his discounted price because he still has Top-10 upside if he stays healthy. Among the 23 RBs with 200 or more carries last year, he was 3rd in yards after contact/att and 5th in missed tackles forced/att, and he had one of the highest rushing yards over expectation/att. So I’ll probably be aiming for him when I’m dipping into Miami’s backfield for fantasy this year.

It’s no secret that the Raiders QB situation isn’t exactly a general manager’s or fantasy manager’s dream; Las Vegas was heavily rumored to be eyeing a trade up in April’s draft to land a signal caller, and when they didn’t, alarms started going off when all of the draft’s quarterbacks were off the board within the first 12 picks. That left them with second year QB Aidan O’Connell and free agent acquisition Gardner Minshew as their only options heading into 2024, which understandably caused a panic among fantasy managers who were hoping to have WR Davante Adams tied to a better passer than he had in 2023. However, a closer look at Adams’ production with O’Connell – as well as Minshew’s ability to support a fantasy WR1 in Indianapolis last year – suggest a much more optimistic outlook about Adams could be warranted.

First of all, it’s important to clear the air around Davante Adams – he is still a QB-proof fantasy wide receiver, with his target share (30.5%), air yards share (44.1%), and targets per route run (0.31) all ranking top-3 among 145 receivers to run at least 100 routes in 2023. In nine games with Aidan O’Connell under center, Adams averaged 16.3 PPR fantasy points per game, which would have ranked him as the overall WR11. The understanding is that O’Connell will get the first crack as QB1 for Las Vegas, but even if he doesn’t retain the job all season long, Adams would be in plenty capable hands with Gardner Minshew, as well…

Last year in Indianapolis, Minshew was able to sustain the Colts’ top WR Michael Pittman at 16.6 PPR points per game, good for an overall WR9 ranking in twelve games the two played together. As bad as things seemed for the Raiders and Adams in the immediate aftermath of the draft, it seems as though no matter what way you flip the Raiders QB coin, Adams should be able to produce at not only a serviceable level, but a high one with either of O’Connell or Minshew taking snaps.