The weekly rumblings article is a few days late this week, as we needed some time to collect our thoughts after what was a busy few days in the NFL. Preseason wrapped up last weekend, and roster cut down day has now come and gone.
While there were some extremely interesting storylines that came out of this year’s trimming of the rosters – with my absolute favourite being Bill Belichick cutting all but one quarterback on the roster and letting Zappe go through waivers – only a few of them will have fantasy implications.
On top of the cuts, we also had big trades, a huge name running back ended his holdout and – of course – more intrigue added to the Jonathan Taylor soap opera.
Let’s recap what you missed
Josh Jacobs is Back in Vegas
One of the final two remaining holdouts, Josh Jacobs has officially rejoined his teammates in Las Vegas after agreeing to a 1 year, $12 million deal in lieu of the franchise tag offer the team placed on him this offseason. It’s essentially the same deal that Saquon Barkley received earlier in the offseason from the New York Giants.
The franchise tag deal would have been worth $10.1 million if Jacobs had signed off on it. Instead he opted to hold out of training camp in the hopes of securing a more lucrative deal. Jacobs has been dropping down draft boards as owners were leery of the entire situation, but the reports were always positive surrounding Jacobs returning to the club. If you’ve already drafted and snagged Jacobs in the 2nd or even 3rd round, you have to be extremely happy with the fact that Jacobs rejoins the team with 2 weeks left before the opening game – he should have plenty of time to get back into game shape. We can’t overlook the fact that Jacobs led the league in rushing yards last season with 1,653, and added 12 touchdowns, matching his career high from 2020.
The Raiders are unlikely to be ahead in many games this year, but they were also in a lot of tight matchups last season and still continued to lean on Jacobs.
With Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback, I would expect a slight uptick in Jacobs’ receiving numbers – Garoppolo has a tendency to check down to his running back more than Derek Carr – which will more than make up for an expected natural regression in rushing yards this coming season.
Keep in mind that the deal is only for 1 season – Jacobs is in his second straight contract year and will be looking for another top tier season to try and lock up another deal for 2024. There’s still plenty of risk tying yourself to Jacobs – the Raiders offensive line remains a work in progress, and their defense might give up points so early and often that Jacobs becomes more of a decoy. But if you find yourself in the 2nd round without an RB1, it might be time to bank on another big season from Jacobs.
Jonathan Taylor – Again
Like every other week, the Taylor soap opera is still dominating headlines. Taylor’s ADP had already been plummeting, so there were some fantasy analysts that were touting the remarkable value he was becoming.
Since then, the Colts (or just Jim Irsay) let it leak last week that they would give Taylor’s agent until this past Tuesday to work out a trade with another club. Great – it’s time for them to all move on. Or so we thought. There were certainly interested parties, with Green Bay being a surprise team to inquire about the pro-bowler, but the Miami Dolphins (as expected) reportedly took the lead in the negotiations. The trade never came to fruition, and the rumours of the asking price explain why the deal never went through. The Colts were apparently asking for 3rd year star receiver Jaylen Waddle to be included as a piece in the trade – you read that correctly, Indy wanted Waddle plus more assets for Taylor – a player they themselves do not value enough to sign to a new contract.
Colts GM Chris Ballard is in a tough position – he’s mostly stayed out of the media while this saga has been playing out. But it’s clear that the entire situation has been created and then continues to be elevated by Irsay.
Since no deal was finalized before the Colts “deadline” Taylor is currently still a member of the team, but more importantly, will miss the first 4 games of the season as he wasn’t activated from the PUP list before Tuesday’s 4pm deadline.
Save yourself the headache and avoid this mess all together – I have a feeling it’s still far from over.
Packers and Dolphins were reportedly willing to make Colts Jonathan Taylor one of the highest paid running backs in the NFL pic.twitter.com/UGrHVcsKPM
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) September 1, 2023
Trey Lance traded to the Cowboys
The San Francisco 49ers made it quite clear that Brock Purdy was going to be their starting quarterback for the 2023 season, and the signing of Sam Darnold made it even more difficult for former 3rd overall pick Trey Lance to play a significant role in the team’s offense.
Enter the Dallas Cowboys, who surprisingly sent a 4th round pick to the Niners for what became their 3rd string quarterback.
The original deal to acquire Lance may go down as one of the worst trades of all time in NFL history – the 49ers sent the Dolphins 4 picks, including 3 first rounders, to get a quarterback who started 4 games for the franchise. The Dolphins, amid a plethora of deals, used their assets to acquire Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Bradley Chubb. The 12th overall pick that the 49ers sent to Miami actually ended up in Dallas, where they selected Micah Parsons. Imaging Parsons on the Niners defense is a terrifying proposition.
This may not have major implications from a fantasy perspective this coming season, but it’s definitely worth noting that both starter Dak Prescott and backup Cooper Rush only have 2 more seasons left on their deals. Prescott has been battling injuries for the past couple years, and while Rush did lead the team to some key victories last season, there aren’t many people that believe he’s the next starter in Dallas in a full time role.
The Cowboys have 2 guaranteed years (and the 5th year option) to see what they can get out of Lance, and if Prescott goes down again this season, dynasty players might get a long hard look at the Lance’s potential – or at least be able to convince the Cowboys fan in their league that he is worth trading for.
Arizona Cardinals Are Actively Trying to be the Worst Team in the NFL
Yes, I know that statement isn’t breaking news – but their moves over the past few days should really make you pause and think when you are considering taking James Conner or Marquise Brown as “value picks” in your draft.
First off is the quarterback situation. Rumours were consistently making the rounds that Kyler Murray would be back earlier than originally anticipated. However, the team has been hush hush about him since the opening of camp and have left him on the PUP, so he is guaranteed to miss at least the first 4 games. The vibe around the team now really seems like they want to wait as long as possible with him, get him into a couple showcase games to drive up his trade value and move him out – despite signing him to a 5 year $230.5 million deal in 2022.
Colt McCoy isn’t the franchise quarterback some thought he could be coming out of college – but he has been perfectly serviceable over the past few seasons. The Cardinals decided to release him, and instead enter the season with Clayton Tune and Joshua Dobbs as their two healthy quarterbacks.
Tune, a 5th round pick in this past draft, hasn’t shown anything that would make you think he’s ready to be a starter in the NFL. Dobbs has been on the team for a week after the team sent a 5th round pick to the Browns to acquire the 28 year old. He has good athletic ability, but has yet to prove that he can be a viable weekly starter in the NFL.
The club also cut ties with two recent early round picks. Isaiah Simmons didn’t live up to his draft pedigree after the Cards took him 8th overall in 2020, but he’s still a valuable defensive weapon. Giving him up for a 5th rounder is just another wasted asset. The new regime had already declined his 5th year option, so there was definitely a feeling that they were ready to move on. They also sent former 3rd round pick Josh Jones to the Texans for a 5th round pick, despite Jones starting in 21 games since he was drafted in 2020.
The Cardinals are clearly looking to rebuild – the accumulation of assets at last year’s draft was evidence enough of that fact – but their roster moves this offseason should be enough to steer fantasy owners away from anyone associated with the team.
Sure, Conner has essentially no competition for snaps – but the Cards are going to be so far behind in every game this year that they’ll likely never have an opportunity to establish the run.
So that means that Marquise Brown will see a lot of work, right? Despite how he performed without DeAndre Hopkins in the lineup last season, it’s still extremely difficult to see him as a real asset on your roster. As noted, the quarterback play looks like it will be a disaster, and with no other receiving weapons on the field, Brown will face tough matchups week after week. While his ADP has dropped significantly, are you really going to consider taking him over Jahan Dotson or Jordan Addison, two players with real breakout potential that are ranked right around Brown?
The only time you should be looking at the Cardinals this season in fantasy is if you are streaming defenses – always pick the one playing the Cardinals.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.