Who Should I Start? Sean Mannion or Taylor Heinicke

Monday, December 18, 6:04 PM

The Seattle Seahawks elevated quarterback Sean Mannion from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster on Monday, a sign that starter Geno Smith (groin) will be inactive on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith was listed as questionable on the team's final Week 15 injury report with a groin injury and was considered a long shot on Monday morning to play. Mannion would give the Seahawks more QB depth behind Drew Lock, who is trending toward making his second straight start with Smith hurting. Fantasy managers that rolled the dice on Smith are probably going to have to pick up and start Lock unless they have another backup signal-caller already on their roster. Lock could actually be a decent emergency streaming option against an Eagles defense that has been generous to opposing QBs and receivers. They're also missing star cornerback Darius Slay (knee).

Tuesday, April 2, 2:21 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke took a pay cut recently from an expected $5 million base salary in 2024 to $1.21 million, according to Roster Management System. His $1.32 million roster bonus, which was due just after the league year began last month, was instead classified as a signing bonus. His $40,000 per game active roster bonus was also removed from his contract. The reduction in his deal lowers Heinicke's salary cap number from $8.96 million to $4.53 million, including a cash value of $2.53 million. If Atlanta were to release him, he would cost $3.32 million in dead money with only a cap savings of $1.21 million. The 31-year-old got a chance to start in 2023 when Desmond Ridder was benched, but Heinicke did nothing to separate himself and also got hurt. He'll enter 2024 as the backup to starter Kirk Cousins.