Stefon Diggs is Heading to Foxborough 💥

Fantasy football never sleeps at Upper Hand. Join the Upper Hand Fantasy Discord for year round discussion, advice, and smack talk, and more!

• Former Jets QB Aaron Rodgers meets with Steelers regarding their opening at quarterback

  • It was announced late last week that the Vikings reportedly have no interest in bringing in the former MVP and division rival quarterback for 2025 to join J.J. McCarthy in the QB room, and with Jameis Winston securing a job with the Giants, Rodgers’ options are effectively narrowed down to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and retirement. Given the stage of his career Rodgers is at and the apparent distance between the Browns and contending, the Steelers appear to be the only feasible destination if Rodgers would want to continue his career – and Pittsburgh is reportedly ‘aggressively pursuing’ the quarterback given the shallow remaining QB pool. Should Rodgers land with the Steelers, he’d have plenty of weapons with which to operate – the newly acquired D.K. Metcalf and George Pickens make up a gnarly two-headed monster at WR, while Pat Freiermuth is a solid option over the middle. The question is whether or not Rodgers still has it in him to be a fantasy relevant quarterback after checking in as the overall QB15 in 2024. He finished just four times as a top-10 weekly finisher at the position, and that was even with a supporting cast in New York that was better than what he’d have with the Steelers (Davante Adams, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall). Rodgers would likely profile as a mid to low QB2 with occasional QB1 upside if he ultimately signed with the Steelers, but it seems as though his says as a fantasy QB1 are behind him at this point.

• Giants sign former QBs Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson to $16M and $21M deals, respectively

  • It’s a two-year deal worth $8M a year for Winston and a one year deal worth up to $21M and $10.5M guaranteed for Wilson. Winston, of course, notably not only yanked the fantasy value of Browns pass catchers from the grave upon assuming the starting job last year, but propelled them to elite production during those games, as well. All of Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore, and David Njoku posted significantly better production with Winston under center in Cleveland than without, and it makes you wonder what a player like Malik Nabers – who was already producing at an elite level with sub-par QB play – could do with the help of a gunslinger like Winston. The prospect is nothing short of enticing, but New York has seemingly hedged their bets on Winston by adding Wilson for 2025. Sitting at No. 3 overall, the Giants are also reasonably within striking distance of Colorado QB Sheduer Sanders assuming the Browns pass him up at No. 2 overall (which isn’t a given). At this point in time, the most likely outcome for Week one would seemingly be Russell Wilson drawing the start given the way his contract is structured. However, there’s a good chance the QB carousel spins at least once or twice this year and we wind up seeing some of Winston, Wilson, and potentially even a rookie QB should the Giants decide to take one (like Shedeur Sanders) at No. 3 overall in April’s draft.

• Patriots sign former Texans WR Stefon Diggs to three-year, $69M deal

  • After sitting out the Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp, and Tee Higgins sweepstakes (and causing Drake Maye’s fantasy managers to pull their hair out a bit with their inaction on the offensive side of the ball), the Patriots finally land Drake Maye a true WR1. It’s much needed help in a receiving room that featured only names like DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte, and Diggs will almost certainly assume the role of WR1 as soon as he hits the field in 2025. Of course, he’s still in the process of recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in Week 8 of 2024, but recent reports have indicated that he‘s got a realistic shot at being ready for Week 1 of 2025. As soon as he’s available, he’ll slot in as a likely fantasy WR2 with WR1 upside catching passes from Drake Maye, who was very productive last season despite having very limited weapons and a less than ideal coaching situation. Diggs’ current draft ADP is likely as deflated as it will be all offseason, so take advantage of his price while it’s still low in your early offseason contests.

Amari Cooper

Cooper isn’t washed. He just wasn’t being utilized once he finally landed on a good team. We thought moving from the Browns to the Bills would solve all of the problems Cooper had, but it only created more – namely, utilization.

Buffalo traded for him and made him a part-time receiver after he spent the first six weeks as a full-time receiver in Cleveland. The difference was shocking…

Amari Cooper utilization in six starts with the Browns (min 150 routes):

• 38.7 Routes per game (4th)

• 8.3 targets per game, 27% target share (both 12th)

• 47% air yards share (6th)

Amari Cooper utilization in eight starts with Bills (min 150 routes):

• 17.9 routes per game (108th)

• 4.0 targets per game (73rd), 14% target share (75th)

• 21% air yards share (70th)

And yet, he was still only the PPR WR47 when he was a Brown. Bear in mind that his passes were coming from Deshaun Watson, who delivered catchable passes to Cooper at the 7th-lowest rate (60%) among WRs to run at least 150 routes from Weeks 1-6.

Cooper will be 31 at kickoff, but he’s still got plenty to offer to teams needing a presence on the outside either at X or the flanker, including the Cowboys, Raiders, and Patriots.

Keenan Allen

Keenan Allen posted very strong utilization numbers in 2024 but fell victim to a Bears offense that was all growl and no teeth.

Among WRs to run 300 or more routes last year:

• 27% target share (t-5th)

• 34% air yards share (led team)

• 41% of team end zone targets (12th, led team)

That elite target earning we’re used to seeing from Allen didn’t translate to consistent production, though. Allen finished five times as a top-15 wide receiver and failed to crack the top 30 in his remaining ten games.

The takeaway? Keenan Allen still has it – even going into his age 33 season. He can be a reliable veteran piece operating out of the slot on a few offenses with young QBs, including the Broncos, Texans, and Patriots.