Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Michael Gallup

Friday, May 2, 12:02 PM

Carolina Panthers veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen said that he talked with his family, and they wanted him to play in 2025. He plans to go through a similar process after this season, which is the final year of his contract. Depending on how the 34-year-old feels and what his family thinks after the 2025 campaign, Thielen could hang up his cleats and retire. He's returning for a third season in Carolina after playing in a career-low 10 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury. In those 10 games, he caught 48 of his 62 targets for 615 yards and five touchdowns. He should continue to be a trusted weapon for young quarterback Bryce Young out of the slot this year, but the addition of first-round rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan will surely make Thielen harder to trust as a WR3/flex in fantasy based on volume alone like he was in 2023, when he recorded the third 1,000-yard season of his career on 103 targets.

Thursday, March 20, 1:39 PM

The Washington Commanders announced on Thursday that they signed free-agent wide receiver Michael Gallup to an undisclosed deal. Gallup was drafted in the third round (81st overall) by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018 out of Colorado State and spent the first six years of his NFL career in Dallas before signing last offseason with the Las Vegas Raiders. The 29-year-old announced his retirement before ever playing in a game with Vegas before deciding he wanted to come back in 2025. He'll now return to the NFC East, where he'll serve as receiving depth behind Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel Sr. and Noah Brown, at the very least. It's a poor landing spot for Gallup potentially returning to fantasy relevance, as he'll also be competing with Luke McCaffrey and K.J. Osborn for playing time. Fantasy managers can probably avoid Gallup in drafts this fall.