play1:47Orlovsky to McAfee: Ben Johnson’s playbook is wide open with Caleb WilliamsDan Orlovsky joins Pat McAfee and breaks down the growth he has seen from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
play1:45Stephen A. blasts Vikings for wasting Justin JeffersonStephen A. Smith calls out Vikings leadership for not giving Justin Jefferson a better QB than J.J. McCarthy.
Jeremy FowlerCloseJeremy Fowlersenior NFL national reporterJeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.Follow on XDan GrazianoCloseDan Grazianosenior NFL national reporterDan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.Follow on XNov 26, 2025, 06:25 AM ET
Will the Cowboys extend George Pickens, and how much could he make on his next deal — with them or elsewhere?
Why Chimere Dike is worth adding to your fantasy roster (1:06)Eric Karabell explains why fantasy managers should consider adding Chimere Dike to their rosters for the rest of the season. (1:06)
Orlovsky to McAfee: Ben Johnson’s playbook is wide open with Caleb WilliamsDan Orlovsky joins Pat McAfee and breaks down the growth he has seen from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
Dan Orlovsky joins Pat McAfee and breaks down the growth he has seen from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
Stephen A. blasts Vikings for wasting Justin JeffersonStephen A. Smith calls out Vikings leadership for not giving Justin Jefferson a better QB than J.J. McCarthy.
Stephen A. Smith calls out Vikings leadership for not giving Justin Jefferson a better QB than J.J. McCarthy.
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Week 13 of the 2025 NFL season starts a little early, with three games on Thanksgiving and another one on Friday. Insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been calling sources around the league for the latest news and buzz on key situations — including some nuggets that might matter for fantasy football.
This week, they have the newest intel on the slumping Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has lost three straight games, and quarterback Baker Mayfield is dealing with a shoulder injury. Is the concern level growing? We also have the latest on Cowboys receiver George Pickens, who is having a huge season. Could he get a big payday in free agency? Will Dallas keep him in the offseason … and would the Cowboys extend him or franchise-tag him?
Additionally, we picked out the most important players in the NFL for the stretch run and poked around on fantasy football-related buzz for the final weeks of the season. It’s all here, as our national reporters answer big questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 13.
Graziano: I think an injury absence for Baker Mayfield would be a significant problem. The Bucs haven’t had their entire offensive line or wide receiver group at all and have been without starting running back Bucky Irving longer than expected. They’re still in first place in a division that doesn’t have a particularly strong challenger, and the schedule eases up a bit in December.
But if Mayfield sits out because of that left shoulder injury (we don’t know for sure whether he will), winning games will be tough in the short term. The Bucs expect Irving and receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan to return at some point, which would help, but Mayfield makes that offense go. His late-game toughness has been a big part of why they’re 6-5 despite the injuries.
Fowler: Despite losing three straight games, the Bucs are in an all-too-familiar position — poised to make a December playoff push against a weaker schedule. The Bucs have been one of the league’s most depleted teams, and their losing streak came against teams with a combined 25-8 record. There’s no shame in losing to the Patriots, Bills and Rams. What’s truly concerning is their lack of pass rush.
Graziano: I spent time with the Bucs in training camp this summer, and one thing stood out to me: They know they can win the division after having done it four seasons in a row. But they believed they had the type of roster to do even more than that. They want to make a Super Bowl run and entered this season with their eyes on the No. 1 seed. That feels out of reach at this point, but they could be a very dangerous team in January if they can hold off Carolina for the NFC South crown.
Yes, some teams could try to tax Pickens for the maturity concerns that have followed him since he entered the league in 2022. But his talent is so undeniable that it might not matter. My sense is Pickens will be looking for a massive payday. Recent high-end free agency deals for top receivers such as Calvin Ridley and Chris Godwin Jr. came in at around $23 million per year, which Pickens should easily exceed barring a surprise.
The Cowboys believed Pickens would be on his best behavior catching passes from Dak Prescott, by far the best QB he has played with, and in a contract year. But with CeeDee Lamb signed to one of the league’s richest WR deals, I don’t think it’s as simple as the Cowboys handing Pickens a long-term deal commensurate with his 2025 performance. I think the franchise tag makes a ton of sense in this case. The question, of course, is how Pickens would react to that.
Fowler: The leader of the Chiefs’ backfield could prove a viable RB2/Flex option, depending how Kansas City plays the rotation Thursday. The Chiefs’ willingness to run the ball 41 times in Sunday’s win over the Colts shows adaptability. Kareem Hunt got 30 of those touches for 104 yards and a touchdown, but Isiah Pacheco is targeting a return to the lineup on Thanksgiving, giving him 10 days of rest on the back end for his knee injury.
Orlovsky to McAfee: Ben Johnson’s playbook is wide open with Caleb Williams
Graziano: I like buying low on Titans options, especially after rookie quarterback Cam Ward looked solid Sunday against a tough Seattle defense. He’s not a bad streaming QB option this week either, though you might not need one with no teams on bye. My final tip, though, is geared around one of my most dearly held fantasy football beliefs: Always use the tight end who’s playing the Bengals.
The Ravens play the Bengals twice the next three weeks. Cincinnati has given up 13 touchdowns to tight ends this season in 11 games. No other team has given up more than seven. Get Mark Andrews, and if you can’t get him, get Isaiah Likely, who’s getting healthier and probably will play a larger role the rest of the way than he has so far this season.
• Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been on the injury report the past three weeks with knee, ankle and toe injuries — all of this after missing three games in October with a hamstring injury. Scouts who’ve watched Jackson say he looks like he’s playing through discomfort — reluctant to run in key spots and out of rhythm with his throws.
It’s going to be a tough test against Mike Macdonald’s defense, but quite frankly, McCarthy’s performance hasn’t set the bar very high. The Vikings still insist they believe in McCarthy and plan for him to be the franchise QB moving forward. But if Brosmer shows some level of ability to get the ball into the hands of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison consistently, it’s going to be very interesting to see what Minnesota does once McCarthy is cleared to play again.
Stephen A. blasts Vikings for wasting Justin Jefferson
Rodgers wanted to be a Viking last year and will also be a free agent, and the Vikings kept tabs on Joe Flacco’s free agency last spring, and he has been effective for multiple teams in recent years. He could be a sensible fallback plan. Arizona’s Kyler Murray could become available should the Cardinals decide to start fresh at the position, too. His chances to play again this season are seemingly becoming slimmer by the week.
A few teams I spoke to believe Aiyuk is slightly more tradeable with the voided guarantees, though with the option money still technically on the books, reworking his deal altogether would be the preferred method. And Aiyuk might not want that. Getting released and hitting free agency in March would be the cleanest path for him — and he would have suitors. He’s only 27 and had 1,342 yards in 2023.
The offensive line attrition can’t be understated. Tyler Steen, while nimble in pass protection, isn’t considered the run-game mauler that Mekhi Becton was for them. Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson have been beat up all season. And Lane Johnson is out for the foreseeable future with a foot injury. There are no easy solutions at the moment, which magnifies a passing game that always had limitations, only it doesn’t have the big Barkley gains to offset it now.
Tampa is not generating enough edge pressure, and though defensive tackle Vita Vea faces frequent double-teams, the defense doesn’t have a healthy complement to take advantage. Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey was probably the team’s best pass rusher entering 2025, but he has been out for most of the season. Despite all of that, I’m still bullish on the Buccaneers. They have a top-10 roster when healthy, and they’re getting closer to that every week. And Todd Bowles’ late-season track record is strong as the Bucs have finished the past two seasons with 5-1 and 6-1 records, respectively.
Fowler: The Bucs don’t have a team with a winning record remaining on the schedule, whereas the closest NFC South contender, the 6-6 Panthers, must play the Rams (9-2) and Seahawks (8-3), as well as the Bucs twice. So, unless Tampa falls apart in December, it would lock into the No. 4 seed. If the season ended today, that fourth seed would play Seattle, a team nobody wants to face. But it also could be the NFC North runner-up (Chicago, Green Bay or Detroit). Tampa can beat those teams if things fall right — the Bucs already defeated the Seahawks on the road in Week 5.