Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Kansas City Chiefs have restructured their backfield, creating a new three-down role for a former Super Bowl MVP.
- A veteran wideout lands in an ideal spot with a clear path to becoming the primary target for a rising quarterback.
- Key depth chart shifts and new additions at skill positions will dramatically reshape fantasy production hierarchies across multiple teams.
NFL free agency has kicked off and a bevy of moves on Monday stand to change the landscape of fantasy football for 2026. There are new skill position players all over the place, and while some of those moves are easy to understand from a fantasy perspective, some smaller ones will have a lasting impact on roster management for 2026.
From big names on the move to guys who were once buried on depth charts and now aren't, these are the early fantasy football winners and losers of NFL free agency.
Fantasy football winners
RB Kenneth Walker III, Kansas City Chiefs
While Kansas City isn't necessarily known for its run game, that's likely to change in 2026 with Kenneth Walker on the team. The team's 2025 running back tandem of Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt are both free agents, so Walker is likely to garner a three-down role with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Super Bowl MVP is coming off his second career 1,000-yard rushing campaign, but he actually played a career-low 47 percent of Seattle's offensive snaps as the team kept him fresh with Zach Charbonnet getting a sizable workload as well.
Carries | Targets | Offensive Snap Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
Kenneth Walker | 221 | 36 | 46.8 |
Zach Charbonnet | 184 | 24 | 46.1 |
Charbonnet also found the end zone 12 times on the ground to Walker's five times. In Kansas City, that won't pose as much of an issue for Walker, who should see more red zone usage in Kansas City. I'd call him a strong RB2 right now, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Walker deliver RB1 production next season.
WR Mike Evans, San Francisco 49ers
It feels so weird to use a team name other than "Tampa Bay Buccaneers" when talking about Mike Evans, but the veteran wide receiver now plays for the San Francisco 49ers.
This is just about the perfect landing spot in fantasy football for Evans, because he has a very clear path to targets. The 49ers entered this offseason with one of the biggest needs at receiver in the entire league, and the lack of movement toward a Jauan Jennings extension highlighted how weak Brock Purdy's weapons could end up being. Not true now, as Evans will operate as Purdy's No. 1 option and should, if he stays healthy, get back on his 1,000-yard receiver grind. I view him as a strong fantasy WR2 option, as long as he doesn't fall victim to the mysterious electrical substation injury conspiracy with the Niners.
WR Jalen Nailor, Las Vegas Raiders
I love this move. Nailor is a good receiver who just never had a chance to consistently shine with the Vikings, but this move to the Las Vegas Raiders gives him a chance to be the No. 1 or No. 2 receiver in this Raiders offense.
Granted, the Raiders offense might not be that good with a rookie quarterback, but Nailor is still far better positioned now, as he won't be behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in the pecking order. Instead, Nailor is now competing with Tre Tucker to be the top wideout. Sure, tight end Brock Bowers will cut into his production just a bit, but not so much that Nailor won't be fantasy relevant. He's averaged 429 yards and five touchdowns as the third option over the past two seasons and should have a chance to double the yardage total in 2026, though I wouldn't bet on a huge increase in touchdowns. Still, he should be viewed as an upside WR3/4 in fantasy.
QB Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals
Were you worried that the Arizona Cardinals would bring in a new starting quarterback, cutting off the fantasy fountain that was Jacoby Brissett's run as starting quarterback in 2025? Don't worry, because instead, they just signed Gardner Minshew to back Brissett up.
Brissett took over as Arizona's quarterback in Week 6. From there on, he finished as a top 12 fantasy quarterback in nine consecutive games before hitting a bit of a dull spot over the final three weeks of the season. Still, he was giving fantasy managers consistent production for the price of...well, nothing essentially, since he was easily available off the waiver wire at the start of this run.
Can we expect the same magic in 2026? Probably not, but that doesn't mean fantasy managers want to avoid Brissett. He'll be the perfect late-round QB2 pick with the upside to be a weekly starter for your fantasy team if needed.
Fantasy football losers
RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
At last season's trade deadline, Alvin Kamara essentially threatened to retire if the New Orleans Saints traded him away. But with the addition of running back Travis Etienne this offseason, Kamara's now staring at a situation where he is no longer the best running back on the Saints roster.
Etienne is going to lead this backfield, whether Kamara remains in New Orleans or not. If the Saints keep the long-time Saint around, he drops down to being a boom-or-bust RB4. There's some additional upside if the Saints move on from him and he lands in a good spot, but from the information we have at the moment, Kamara is trending way down.
RB Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
If you've been waiting for the Trey Benson breakout, you're just going to have to keep waiting. Not only is he still competing with James Conner for touches, but he also has to contend with new addition Tyler Allgeier, one of the most underrated running backs on the market. He just didn't get to show his talent in recent seasons because he was playing behind Bijan Robinson.
Attempts | Rushing Yards | Rushing Touchdowns | First Downs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 (without Robinson) | 210 | 1,035 | 3 | 53 |
2023-25 averages | 155.3 | 613.7 | 5 | 39.3 |
Benson has a lot of fans around the fantasy football space who believed that he was on the precipice of being something big before a knee injury ended his 2025 season after just four games. But signing Allgeier is a death knell to those hopes, as he's now third, at best, in the pecking order on this Cardinals roster.
WR DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers
Metcalf's move to the Pittsburgh Steelers was already bad for his production. Just compare his last season in Seattle to his first in Pittsburgh.
Targets | Receptions | Receiving Yards | |
|---|---|---|---|
2024 (Seahawks) | 108 | 66 | 992 |
2025 (Steelers) | 99 | 59 | 850 |
That's in spite of the fact that in 2024, Metcalf faced competition from the ascending Jaxon Smith-Njigba while in 2025, he faced way less competition in Pittsburgh.
Now, he does have valid competition for targets as the Steelers traded for Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., who had a down 2025 but still caught 80 passes and seven touchdowns. I think that Metcalf is probably the more talented of the two, but he'll also be used less than Pittman, with the newly-acquired receiver set to see more short-yardage work.
And that's not to mention the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh. Will we just seen an even-older Aaron Rodgers there in 2026? The team has already missed out on a couple of potential free agent replacements.
WR Rashid Shaheed, Seattle Seahawks
I get why the Seattle Seahawks made this move. Shaheed didn't really post great numbers after the team traded for him in 2025, but he provided the team with a deep threat who helped open up the underneath game.
The problem for fantasy managers is that Seattle doesn't really provide Shaheed with what he needs to be as fantasy relevant as he was in New Orleans, which is a chance to see expanded targets. As long as Cooper Kupp is back in 2026, the Seahawks will only be using Shaheed in a one-dimensional way. Now, that one dimension might produce some exciting long touchdowns that help the Seahawks win football games, but at the same time, the inconsistency is going to frustrate fantasy managers way, way, way too much. I doubt I'll be drafting Shaheed this year.
QB Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans needed to add receiving talent for Ward this offseason. Through the first day of free agency, they've added Wan'Dale Robinson and Daniel Bellinger. Right approach, but probably the wrong players.
Now, look: I like Robinson, but at best, he's a good No. 2 receiver. If this is what the Titans receiving room winds up looking like, it's just a worse version of what Brian Daboll had with the Giants, which is objectively bad news for Ward's development. You can't trust him in fantasy leagues if this is what the offense winds up looking like.
Now, there's still plenty of time to do something else, like potentially using the No. 4 overall pick on a wide receiver (unlikely) or the No. 35 pick on a wide receiver (significantly more likely). At the moment, though, Ward isn't really in much better of a position than he was in as a rookie.