Philadelphia Eagles

The Athletic's Charlotte Carroll examined a hypothetical that seems to be gaining some traction lately: That the New York Giants should make an offer to running back Saquon Barkley early this offseason, and if he doesn't accept it, let him test free agency to see what the league thinks he's worth. Then before signing anything, Barkley gives the Giants a chance to match any offer from another team. "I wouldn't be against that. That's fair," Barkley said when posed that scenario last week. Working in Barkley's favor if he hits the open market is the fact that this year's RB class in the draft is considered weak. However, the free-agent class at the position is shaping up to be strong. The RB franchise tag is at $12.1 million in 2024, but the G-Men may prefer not to use it on a 27-year-old who missed another three games with a high-ankle sprain in 2023 and who also averaged under 4.0 yards per carry.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that quarterback Kenny Pickett will return as the team's starter next season but will definitely have competition. The Steelers want Mason Rudolph to provide the competition for Pickett, but "he's a free agent." Pickett was mostly underwhelming in his 12 starts in 2023 before injuring his ankle in Week 13 and never playing again the rest of the year as Rudolph eventually took over and led the team to three straight wins to close out the regular season to help the team clinch a playoff spot. Since being taken in the first round in 2022, the 25-year-old Pickett has completed only 62.6% of his pass attempts for 4,474 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 25 games (24 starts). He's going to have to play a lot better during training camp and the preseason to beat out Rudolph or whoever the Steelers bring in to compete with him.

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert caught four of six targets for 21 yards and a touchdown during the team's 9-32 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 28-year-old did leave the game late in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, but there were no hopes for a comeback at that point, so the severity of his injury is unknown. Goedert had a few drops in this contest and was visibly upset with quarterback Jalen Hurts at one point during the second half. Goedert set a career-high in receptions despite missing three games in 2023, but he saw his yards per target take a big hit and failed to reach 600 receiving yards for the first time since 2020. With plenty of turnover coming in Philadelphia, Goedert will remain one of the staples of the Eagles' offense at the start of the 2024 regular season.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith caught eight of 12 targets for 148 yards during the team's 9-32 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 25-year-old sat out of the regular season finale due to an ankle injury but looked no worse for wear Monday night. Without A.J. Brown (knee), Smith carried the Eagles' passing attack, but it was not enough for the team to overcome the Buccaneers. Smith went over 1000 yards and caught seven touchdowns for the second season in a row, and that was on a much lower target share than last season. He will remain a rock-solid WR2 in fantasy drafts come August.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 25 of 35 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown, adding one carry for five yards during the team's 9-32 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 25-year-old didn't make many mistakes but was unable to put the team into scoring range consistently without A.J. Brown (knee). Over half of Hurts' passing yards went to DeVonta Smith. The Eagles' offense was in shambles at the end of the year and could not get things turned around by the start of the playoffs. There are bound to be plenty of changes to the coaching staff and roster come September, but Hurts will remain a top-five fantasy quarterback because when he is healthy and has his full complement of weapons, he is as good as any other.