Washington Commanders

Free-agent quarterback Marcus Mariota is signing a one-year, $6 million deal worth up to $10 million with the Washington Commanders on Tuesday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The former No. 2 overall pick in 2015 is set to join his fifth team after five years with the Tennessee Titans, two years with the Las Vegas Raiders, and one year a piece with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. In 90 games (74 starts), Mariota has passed for 15,820 yards, 93 touchdowns, and 55 interceptions. He's added over 2,000 yards and 17 scores on the ground. He's set to join a quarterback room that already has Sam Howell, and the Commanders are likely to take a quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft with the No. 2 overall pick. That said, Mariota will likely be competing for the backup job, though some teams choose to start a veteran early in the season as they ease a rookie into action. Mariota slightly enters the two-QB and superflex league fantasy radar for 2024.

The Houston Texans have re-signed wide receiver Noah Brown to an undisclosed deal on Monday, according to a source. In his first year with the Texans in 2023, Brown put up 33 receptions on 55 targets for a career-high 567 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 10 regular-season games (seven starts). The 28-year-old wideout should be able to do more in a full season of play with impressive young quarterback C.J. Stroud throwing him passes, but Brown will also be behind Nico Collins and Tank Dell on the receiver depth chart. Brown probably won't be a draft target outside of deeper leagues this fall, but he'd be a very popular waiver-wire pickup if Collins or Dell were to miss extended time due to injuries in 2024.

Veteran free-agent running back Austin Ekeler is signing with the Washington Commanders on Monday on a two-year deal worth up to $11.43 million, according to sources. Ekeler is headed to the East coast after seven seasons and 69 total touchdowns with the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old was extremely productive in his time with the Bolts, but he's coming off one of his worst statistical seasons in 2023 and is now heading to a Commanders backfield where he'll be expected to split the workload with Brian Robinson. On a side note, former Commanders RB Antonio Gibson agreed to join the New England Patriots. Gone are the days of Ekeler being a no-doubt RB1 for fantasy managers, although he still has the talent to be a highly productive RB3/flex option, especially in PPR leagues. In addition, the Commanders' signing of Ekeler is going to be bad news for B-Rob's fantasy ceiling.

The Washington Commanders and Las Vegas Raiders have made preliminary inquiries on free-agent running back Austin Ekeler, according to a source. CBS Sports' Josina Anderson writes that Ekeler's situation remains fluid at this time, but he could choose his next landing spot relatively quickly after Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard have all agreed with new teams on Monday. The Commanders lost Antonio Gibson and the Raiders lost Jacobs, so they have obvious needs in their backfield right now. The 28-year-old Ekeler is coming off one of the worst years of his career in 2023, with 628 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground after scoring a career-high 13 TDs in 2022. A change of scenery could easily lead to a bounce-back campaign, but fantasy managers probably aren't going to treat him as the high-end RB1 like they did in 2023 drafts.

Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz is signing with the Washington Commanders on a one-year deal worth up to $5 million on Wednesday, according to a source. It will be a reunion for Ertz and new Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. When Ertz was with the Arizona Cardinals in Kingsbury's offense, he saw a ton of targets, so this has the 33-year-old's fantasy stock on the rise again after he played in only seven games in the desert in 2023 due to injuries, catching 27 of his 43 targets for 187 yards and one touchdown. Logan Thomas is now out of the picture in Washington, paving the way for Ertz to serve as the team's top pass-catching tight end if he's healthy, but he could also be taking passes from whichever quarterback the Commanders with the second overall pick in the upcoming draft.