Who Should I Start? Jordan Mason or Chase Brown

Saturday, March 15, 10:52 PM

The Minnesota Vikings acquired running back Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday and signed him to a two-year deal with over $7 million fully guaranteed at signing, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The maximum value of the deal is for $12 million. The Niners placed a second-round tender (worth $5.3 million) on Mason, who was a restricted free agent, but he'll now head to the NFC North, where he'll serve as the backup to Aaron Jones. San Fran also sent the 187th pick in this year's draft in exchange for the 160th pick in the draft and a sixth-round pick in 2026. The 25-year-old was one of the best waiver-wire pickups in fantasy a year ago after taking over for Christian McCaffrey as the Niners' lead back. He had 789 rushing yards and three TDs on 153 carries in 12 games (six starts) before ending the year with an ankle injury. Mason won't have much standalone fantasy value in 2025 but will be a fine handcuff for those that roster Jones.

Tuesday, March 4, 5:41 PM

Bengals beat writer Geoff Hobson gets the sense that the Cincinnati Bengals are looking to go bigger for a complement to lead back Chase Brown this offseason with Zack Moss' (neck) status unclear. Brown played big as a three-down back in 2024 after Moss' injury and racked up an impressive 1,350 scrimmage yards on 283 touches while also protecting quarterback Joe Burrow, but offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher wouldn't mind another big and physical back to help Brown out. "The easy answer is Chase isn't the biggest guy, so maybe if you have an opportunity to add a bigger back with a little more power repertoire to his game, that size helps you in protection," Pitcher said. The 24-year-old Brown finished as the RB12 in half-PPR scoring in 2024 thanks to his workhorse role, and although he should remain the lead back in a high-scoring offense, fantasy managers should expect some regression.