Fantasy football Week 13: Add and drop

Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free-agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.

Here’s my NFL Week 13 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:

ADD

— RB Devin Neal, Saints (ESPN: 2%; Yahoo: 4%): Alvin Kamara suffered an MCL sprain against the Falcons on Sunday, and could miss multiple weeks. Neal produced 61 total yards on 12 touches in his stead, including five receptions for 43 yards. The rookie has at least three receptions in three of his last four games, and should see a substantial boost in usage with Kamara sidelined. I’m also sure Swiss Army knife Taysom Hill (ESPN: 1%; Yahoo: 1%) will carve out a bigger role as well without Kamara.

— WR Jayden Higgins, Texans (ESPN: 23%; Yahoo: 22%): Higgins is the overall WR27 in standard formats (WR29 in PPR) since Week 8 with at least four receptions for 55 yards or a touchdown in four of the last five games. The rookie also has at least seven targets in four of the five.

— QB Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals (ESPN: 47%; Yahoo: 61%): What more do you need to see? Brissett is the overall QB5 since he took over for an injured Kyler Murray in Week 6. He has weekly finishes of QB7, QB12, QB10, QB10, QB4 and QB8 in his six starts.

— WR Christian Watson, Packers (ESPN: 49%; Yahoo: 48%): Watson is the overall WR18 in standard formats (WR25 in PPR) since making his season debut in Week 8, and has at least 45 yards or a TD in all five games. He’s looked like Green Bay’s best receiver since his return and faces a Lions’ defense on Thanksgiving allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season.

— TE Colston Loveland, Bears (ESPN: 35%; Yahoo: 43%): I know Cole Kmet still exists, but all the upside resides with Loveland. The No. 10 pick in last April’s draft is the overall TE3 in standard formats (TE4 in PPR) since Week 9 with at least 40 yards or a TD in four straight games.

— WR Kayshon Boutte, Patriots (ESPN: 35%; Yahoo: 37%): Drake Maye has proven to be one of the best deep ball throwers in the NFL and Boutte is his favorite target downfield. The Giants are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, and have struggled to contain receivers who can stretch the field like Boutte all season.

— RB Jaleel McLaughlin, Broncos (ESPN:

— QB Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (ESPN: 29%; Yahoo: 49%): Lawrence is the overall QB11 since Week 5 with multiple TDs in five of the last seven games. Since Week 9, he’s the overall QB6 with at least 29 rushing yards or a rushing TD in four straight games.

— WR Parker Washington, Jaguars (ESPN: 20%; Yahoo: 40%): Washington is the overall WR25 in standard formats (WR24 in PPR) since Week 5 with at least 52 yards or a TD in five of the last seven games. The addition of Jakobi Meyers didn’t hurt his usage, and I’m not really concerned about Brian Thomas Jr. eventually returning from ankle injury either. Trevor Lawrence has had a stronger rapport with Washington than Thomas this season.

— TE Brenton Strange, Jaguars (ESPN: 11%; Yahoo: 13%): Strange returned from a hip injury after missing five games. He had five receptions on five targets for 93 yards in Jacksonville’s overtime victory at Arizona, finishing as the weekly TE4 across most fantasy formats.

— WR Chimere Dike, Titans (ESPN: 12%; Yahoo: 14%): With Calvin Ridley out for the season, and Elic Ayomanor dealing with a hamstring injury, Dike returned a punt 90 yards for a TD, his second of the season, and had five receptions on seven targets for 44 yards and another TD against the Seahawks on Sunday. The talented rookie is the overall WR18 in standard formats (WR26 in PPR) since Week 7 with at least 93 yards or a TD in three of the last five games.

— TE Dalton Schultz, Texans (ESPN: 57%; Yahoo: 47%): Schultz is the overall TE13 in standard formats (TE7 in PPR) since Week 7. He has at least five receptions in seven of his last nine games, and faces a Colts’ defense allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season. Schultz also has a premium matchup against the Cardinals in Week 15.

— WR Andrei Iosivas, Bengals (ESPN: 11%; Yahoo: 20%): Iosivas had four receptions on seven targets for 61 yards with Ja’Marr Chase suspended against the Patriots. Joe Burrow will be back on Thanksgiving night against the Ravens with Tee Higgins out (concussion) this time. Iosivas will have flex appeal in deeper leagues, as will Mitchell Tinsley (ESPN:

— QB Cam Ward, Titans (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 7%): Since Tennessee returned from its bye in Week 11, Ward is the overall QB7 completing 65.8% of his passes for an average of 225 passing yards while rushing for an average of 35 yards in the last two games.

— WR Jayden Reed, Packers (ESPN: 39%; Yahoo: 36%): Reed was designated to return from injured reserve last week, which means his return is imminent, although it isn’t certain if he’ll be back for the Thanksgiving matchup with the Lions.

— TE Darren Waller, Dolphins (ESPN: 17%; Yahoo: 21%): Waller is the overall TE4 in standard formats (WR5 in PPR) in the three games he’s both started and finished this season. He could return this week, and is set to practice on Wednesday. Waller has two premium matchups against the Steelers and Bengals in the first two rounds of the fantasy playoffs.

— WR Luther Burden III, Bears (ESPN: 8%; Yahoo: 11%): Burden finally passed Olamide Zaccheaus in three-receiver sets for the first time in Week 11. He’s played at least 44% of Chicago’s offensive snaps in three straight games, and surpassed 50% for the first time against the Steelers on Sunday, after not topping 28.8% in his first seven games. The dynamic rookie is worth stashing just in case his role continues to grow in Chicago’s rapidly improving offense.

— TE Isaiah Likely, Ravens (ESPN: 8%; Yahoo: 5%): Likely needs to be stashed for his upcoming schedule. From Weeks 13 to 16, all four matchups are against teams in the bottom 10 of the league at preventing fantasy points to tight ends, including two games against the woeful Bengals.

— WR Adonai Mitchell, Jets (ESPN: 3%; Yahoo: 2%): Mitchell has had at least six targets in both of his games since being traded to New York. If the Jets do one thing with the rest of this season, it will be figuring out if he and John Metchie III (ESPN:

— D/ST Jaguars (ESPN: 52%; Yahoo: 42%): Jacksonville is the ninth-highest scoring defense in fantasy through 12 weeks and face a Titans’ offense this week tied for allowing the most fantasy points to opposing defenses. Regardless if Cam Ward has played better, he’s still been sacked an NFL-high 45 times in 11 games.

— D/ST Chargers (ESPN: 29%; Yahoo: 40%): I bet you’re wondering who is tied with Titans for allowing the most fantasy points to opposing defenses? Why it’s the Bolts’ opponent this week, the Raiders. Geno Smith has thrown an NFL-high 13 interceptions and been sacked 41 times. Las Vegas’ offensive line is an absolute mess, and just allowed the Browns to sack Smith 10 times on Sunday.

— D/ST Buccaneers (ESPN: 20%; Yahoo: 22%): Jacoby Brissett has been sacked at least five times in four of the last five games. Plus, Tampa Bay won’t face a single scary offense for the rest of this fantasy season. The Bucs host the Cardinals this week, then the Saints and Falcons, and will face the Panthers and Dolphins on the road.

— D/ST Saints (ESPN: 4%; Yahoo: 7%): It makes sense to stash New Orleans’ defense if you’re already focused on the playoffs. The Saints face the Panthers, Jets and Titans in Weeks 15-17, three teams in the bottom nine of the league at preventing fantasy points to opposing defenses.

DROP

— QB Joe Flacco, Bengals: With Burrow back, thank Flacco for the memories and send him back to the waiver wire.

— RB Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots: Stevenson was out-snapped by TreVeyon Henderson 46-22 in his first game back from a toe injury. The rookie also out-touched him 21-7. Henderson is the captain now.

— WR Jerry Jeudy, Browns: I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player more clueless of his surroundings or less aware on a football field than Jeudy when he was stripped from behind while high-stepping on his only reception of the game against the Raiders on Sunday.

— RB Alvin Kamara, Saints: I don’t believe there’s much incentive to rush Kamara back from his MCL sprain, and Devin Neal could very well takeover the job.

— WR Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers: There are conflicting reports, but it doesn’t sound like Aiyuk is likely to return this season after San Francisco voided about $27 million in 2026 guarantees in his contract in late July.