FFToolbox - Cowboys WR Dez Bryant's contract negotiations were held up by 'problematic' contracts plus 11 more

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Cowboys WR Dez Bryant's contract negotiations were held up by 'problematic' contracts
Falcons WR Julio Jones should be paid now according to Roddy White
Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas sets lofty goals for himself
Cowboys WR Dez Bryant's new contract has no 'Dez Rules'
Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams was asked to keep his weight at 220 pounds or under this season
Vikings RB Adrian Peterson expects to be on the field more on third-down situations
NASCAR Post-Qualifying: 5 Hour Energy 301
Daily Fantasy: Scouting the MLB (Saturday, July 18)
2015 Fantasy Football: Rookie Running Backs
Fantasy Football Week in Review (7/11 - 7/17)
2015 Fantasy Football: Deep Receiver Strategy
Pairing Fantasy Players to Limit Risk

Cowboys WR Dez Bryant's contract negotiations were held up by 'problematic' contracts

Posted: 19 Jul 2015 01:25 AM PDT

Now that Dez Bryant has signed his long-term deal, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones can speak freely about the situation. He says that the massive contracts signed by Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald were the biggest holdups. Both players were drafted before the new collective bargaining agreement, which featured the rookie wage scale. quot;They were problematic," Jones said. "They did set a false financial perspective as it relates to the NFL pay structure. That was a big part of this issue, and that was part of the challenge as late as 3 o'clock in the morning Tuesday night." FANTASY ANALYSIS: Now that the new bar has been set by Bryant, this snag should no longer be an issue. Expect both Julio Jones and A.J. Green to have relatively painless contract negotiations now. Demaryius Thomas was able to sign minutes after Bryant. Hopefully this spares us from star receiver holdouts for at least a while. On top of Megatron and Fitz, Mike Wallace's contract did NFL teams no favors when it comes to having to pay top wideouts. He made these guys a lot of money when the Dolphins signed him to that horrific contract.

Falcons WR Julio Jones should be paid now according to Roddy White

Posted: 19 Jul 2015 12:58 AM PDT

Falcons' veteran receiver wideout Roddy White has not been shy about lobbying for Julio Jones to get a contract extension and a very lucrative one. White was at it again, he is now campaigning for Jones more than ever now that Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas have set the bar. quot;If I was the GM, I would get a deal done with Julio now," White said. "I want to make sure he's paid. That's my guy … The more they wait, the more it's going to cost them. It's important that (Julio) feels comfortable." FANTASY ANALYSIS: There have been rumors flying that Jones will get a deal done before training camp opens up. Injuries are a concern, however, he certainly deserves to get paid. Currently, Jones is being drafted as the fourth wideout off the board. This is fair value. If you want elite players, you have to pay the price. He's an elite WR1 and will not fall out of the first round in many fantasy drafts. After putting up 1,593 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games last season, he shouldn't.

Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas sets lofty goals for himself

Posted: 19 Jul 2015 12:25 AM PDT

After signing his massive long-term deal with the Broncos, Demaryius Thomas has set his goals much higher. It looks like he wants to prove he's worth every dollar of his new $70 million contract. He now wants to leave every wide receiver evet in every relevant stat. quot;I want to lead the league in yards, touchdowns, basically about everything a receiver can do," Thomas said. "I kind of want to break the NFL record in yards. There's big plays to be made." FANTASY ANALYSIS: As much as Thomas wants to lead the league in all categories and break every record ever, he will likely take a step back this season and then even more so once Peyton Manning retires. Manning is already showing major signs of decline. Also, new head coach Gary Kubiak plans to implement a new run-heavy attack this season. His current ADP has him being drafted as the WR5, however, he may tumble a bit in 2015. DT is still a WR1, he might just not be an elite WR1 due to circumstance.

Cowboys WR Dez Bryant's new contract has no 'Dez Rules'

Posted: 18 Jul 2015 11:54 PM PDT

Last time Dez Bryant signed a contract it had quot;Dez Rules". The team went to extreme measures to make sure Bryant stayed out of trouble off the field. He faced restrictions and was borderline babysat. Those rules are not in the new contract and Jerry Jones credits Jay-Z for that. "That was made possible by Roc Nation and Jay-Z," Jones said. "Now I know you said, 'Boy, aren't we mixing the chickens and eagles here?' No. Jay-Z certainly is a great example there. He's obviously very astute and not just talented and he has in his or he has in his plan a really ask several people of the different disciplines of music many different disciplines that are outstanding. Then he wants to have them and advise them on how they handle their affairs. He's outstanding." FANTASY ANALYSIS: It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The "Dez Rules" were obviously in place for a good reason. However, for now let's just be a happy this whole thing is behind us. Bryant is now a no-doubt elite WR1 and should be drafted as such. He's as good a red zone threat as there is in the league at wide receiver and he's far and away the most dangerous weapon on the Cowboys. He almost has to be drafted as a top-five wideout and no one could fault you if you drafted him as the WR1. He's in line for a monster year.

Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams was asked to keep his weight at 220 pounds or under this season

Posted: 18 Jul 2015 11:11 PM PDT

After signing DeAngelo Williams, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin asked him to show up to camp at 220 pounds or less. Williams hasn't been that slim in nearly a decade. It turns out this is not all that easy for the former long-time Panther. It turns out he has a bit of a sweet tooth and his pregnant girlfriend with a candy addiction doesn't make it any easier. quot;I have this thing where if (the nutritionist) doesn't text me right back, I kind of eat what I want to eat," Williams said. "So I'm at the (movie theater) counter and I'm like, 'man I want some popcorn; I wonder if I can eat some popcorn. I'm gonna hit him up real quick … No response … So I was like 'yeah let me get a large order of popcorn."-- When Williams and his girlfriend sat down with their bucket of popcorn, he received a text -- "Man, I really hope you didn't get that damn popcorn," it read, (with nutrition facts included in the message). "As I'm about to eat the kernel, I'm like 'yeah whatever.' And then I started looking at the nutrition facts, and I just put the kernel back in the box and just passed it to my girl." FANTASY ANALYSIS: The decreased weight will allow Williams to play faster and be a serviceable feature back while Le'Veon Bell is suspended. While Williams could be a nice spot start for three weeks, odds are he won't make it in many starting rosters in anything but the deepest of leagues. Everyone is generally healthy for the first few weeks and there are no bye weeks. Also, most will probably want to see him in action before starting him. After Bell returns, Williams has little to no fantasy value. So he doesn't have a ton of value, even if you draft Bell you may be better off just drafting a more valuable back. Nonetheless, he could be a nice start in DFS leagues.

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson expects to be on the field more on third-down situations

Posted: 18 Jul 2015 10:46 PM PDT

Adrian Peterson is back from suspension and expected to have a monster season. Obviously, Peterson is going to eat up the vast majority of touches in the Vikings' backfield. However, he believes he'll see even more snaps than expected. Last season AP was expected to see a lot more action on third downs. Unfortunately his season was derailed due to a suspension for child abuse. This season, Peterson believes he'll see a lot more third-down touches like he was planned to last year. If true, he may be near the league lead in touches. FANTASY ANALYSIS: That would be a lot of touches for a 30-year-old back, but if anyone could handle it, it's Peterson. Especially coming off almost a full-season's rest. If this holds true it would put him over the top as an elite RB1. The one thing he always lacked was elite PPR production. It's also very possible that the Vikings just run him into the ground this season. There is a great chance Peterson does not return next season and he may get the Demarco Murray treatment, which is great for his fantasy value. His ADP currently has him being drafted as the RB4. Although that is high, he should probably be going even higher.

NASCAR Post-Qualifying: 5 Hour Energy 301

Posted: 18 Jul 2015 10:21 PM PDT

Brian Polking points out some drivers that could help you cash in on DraftKings due to their qualifying positions.:

Daily Fantasy: Scouting the MLB (Saturday, July 18)

Posted: 18 Jul 2015 03:45 PM PDT

Most of Saturday''s MLB action takes place tonight, so our Daily DFS Breakdown brings you the top plays, values, and stacks for lineups on the late slate.