Who Should I Start? Ricky Pearsall or Matthew Golden

Tuesday, June 10, 9:22 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) was healthy to take part in mandatory minicamp this week, but the team is being careful with him and want him to be ready for training camp in late July. It makes sense for the Niners to play it safe with the former first-rounder since fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk (knee) likely won't be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season. If the 24-year-old can return in training camp and develop chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy, he'll have plenty of opportunity as a starter in three-wide sets in his sophomore season in the NFL. Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie season after being shot in the chest, but he was more involved late in the year with Aiyuk out. If healthy, he should make much more noise in 2025. RotoBaller has Pearsall ranked as the No. 45 fantasy wideout.

Monday, May 19, 10:07 PM

The Green Bay Packers announced on Monday that they signed first-round wide receiver Matthew Golden to his four-year rookie deal, according to general manager Brian Gutekunst. Golden will receive a fully-guaranteed $17.57 million with a signing bonus of $9.42 million, according to OverTheCap.com. The Packers took the 21-year-old pass-catcher in the first round at the end of April, the first time they had taken a receiver in the first round since 2002. The 5-foot-11, 191-pounder caught 58 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns at Texas in 2024. Golden should play right away in Green Bay, especially with Christian Watson (knee) potentially out for half the season. He will primarily be a field-stretcher for the Packers and could be a boom/bust fantasy commodity in his first NFL campaign in a wideout corps that also includes Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks.