Who Should I Start? Tyler Lockett or JuJu Smith-Schuster

Sunday, March 10, 12:08 AM

The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Tyler Lockett agreed on a two-year, $30 million restructured contract on Saturday. The deal includes a maximum value of $34 million, including $13 million guaranteed this year. The restructured deal gives the Seahawks extra cap space with NFL free agency officially beginning on Wednesday. The 31-year-old caught 79 passes for 894 yards and five touchdowns across 17 games in 2023, his lowest yardage output since 2017. Lockett will remain Seattle's No. 2 wideout behind superstar DK Metcalf and compete for targets with first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The veteran wideout is a boom-or-bust fantasy option and a better best-ball pick than standard PPR formats. Lockett is a fantasy WR3 heading into early best-ball drafts in 2024.

Thursday, May 2, 2:33 PM

Starting next month, the New England Patriots could cut wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster at a cost of $9.6 million in dead money and no salary cap relief, per Over the Cap, while releasing him before then would incur $2.6 million more in dead money and take a small chunk out of their league-leading $54 million cap room. If the Pats traded Smith-Schuster after June 1, they'd save almost $7 million in cap space and clear room for their young receivers to see more playing time. New England could prioritize playing time for rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, plus 2023 sixth-rounder Demario Douglas. It all means that Smith-Schuster may no longer be the team's No. 2 receiver, especially with Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn also on the roster.