Who Should I Start? Matthew Slater or Calvin Ridley

Tuesday, February 20, 12:01 PM

New England Patriots wide receiver and special teams ace Matthew Slater announced on Tuesday that he is officially retiring from professional football. Slater holds the record for most special teams Pro Bowl appearances with 10. "I have given all that I possibly can to respect and honor the game," Slater wrote. "Though it is time for my relationship with the game to evolve, the love I have for it will last a lifetime." The former fifth-round pick by the Patriots in 2008 out of UCLA spent his entire 16-year career in New England and won three Super Bowls with the team and is the franchise's all-time leader in special teams tackles. Slater played in 239 games with the Patriots, second in team history behind only Tom Brady (285). Slater's 25 career postseason games rank ninth-most in NFL history. The 38-year-old was a team captain for 13 straight seasons.

Tuesday, March 26, 2:09 PM

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley is expected to see a lot of targets in his first year with the team in 2024. "You're looking at a very similar role to what Ja'Marr Chase played," Titans head coach Brian Callahan said. The new Titans head coach previously coached Chase as the offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals. Ridley might not be the overall talent that Chase is, but his fantasy price is going to go up considerably if the Titans indeed use Ridley similarly to how Chase is used in Cincinnati. With the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023, the 29-year-old was mostly used as a deep threat on the outside and finished with the second 1,000-yard season of his career and eight touchdowns in 17 starts. If he's running more intermediate routes out of the slot in 2024, Ridley's fantasy ceiling could be even higher.