Who Should I Start? Russell Gage or D'Andre Swift

Monday, March 11, 6:31 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage (knee) is now a free agent. When the team reworked his deal last year, it included an option for the 2024 season, and the team has declined to pick it up. The move clears what would have been $10 million in salary, but the Bucs will take on roughly $6.9 million in dead money from old restructures. Gage signed a three-year, $30 million in free agency before the 2022 season to give quarterback Tom Brady another weapon in the passing game. He did have a career-high five touchdowns in 2022, but he also had a disappointing 51 catches for 426 yards and didn't play at all last year due to a torn patellar tendon that he suffered in training camp in August. The 28-year-old should resurface with another team, but coming off a major knee injury, it's unlikely that he'll be able to make much of a fantasy impact wherever he lands.

Tuesday, March 26, 4:39 PM

The Chicago Bears signing of former Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles running back D'Andre Swift was one of the first moves of free agency, and head coach Matt Eberflus suggested he will be a passing game weapon for the organization. "We just felt that we wanted a home-run hitter there. I think D'Andre brings that. We wanted a weapon back -; a guy who could be a weapon out of the backfield," Eberflus said. "I know that in situational football it's very difficult to be able to have the two guys outside covered, two tight ends covered, and then you got another situation where you have the weapon back inside. So that was critical." It sounds like Chicago is planning to utilize Swift out of the backfield more often, which was a role he excelled in while in Detroit. Swift posted just a 10% target share in his lone season in Philadelphia after being at 15.1% in 2022 and 18.4% in 2021. With Chicago almost certainly slated to take USC's Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Swift could see a ton of usage underneath as a receiver while Williams feels out the NFL game.