Roster management is the single most crucial in-season task for fantasy football managers. Knowing which players to let go is as important as adding the right guys.
As the 2025 NFL season chugs on, which players find themselves on our Week 7 fantasy football cut list?
Quarterbacks: Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 81%
Once upon a time, Kyler Murray was an elite fantasy quarterback. His career got off to such a strong start, averaging 18.9 fantasy points per game as a rookie, then 24.4. and 22.2 in his second and third seasons. Since then, though, he’s been unable to match those heights.
This year feels worse than ever… because it is. Murray is averaging 16.2 PPG and came into Week 6 as the overall QB22. Murray hasn’t had a total dud all season, but he’s yet to post a single game with at least 19 fantasy points.
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Meanwhile, from a real-life perspective, Murray appears to be getting worse. The Arizona Cardinals just matched their season high in points scored with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
Murray has not been a difference-maker all season. He’s almost certainly going to miss Week 8. Then, the Cardinals are on bye. Now, you probably want Murray for his Week 9 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. But if you can’t afford to hold him for two more weeks, he’s really not a must-roster player.
Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
Rostered: 75%
Seeing Matthew Stafford this heavily rostered is mind-boggling, but it makes sense in the context of his recent performances and the Week 6 matchup. He was coming off back-to-back games of 25-plus fantasy points and set to face a Baltimore Ravens defense that can’t stop anyone.
So, what does Stafford do? He has his worst fantasy outing of the season, failing to reach double-digit fantasy points in a low-scoring game that the Los Angeles Rams were never in jeopardy of losing.
Stafford has been what he’s been every season since he threw over 40 touchdowns in 2021 — he’s a matchup-based streamer. Without any rushing production, Stafford needs to throw touchdowns to return fantasy value. But the Rams want to run the ball with Kyren Williams.
Feel free to continue spot-starting Stafford when you need to, but he shouldn’t be any fantasy team’s primary quarterback.
Running Backs: Trey Benson, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 56%
It appears many fantasy managers have already moved on. This isn’t a situation where you absolutely have to drop Trey Benson — he’s on IR — we know the deal. Benson will miss another 2-4 weeks. When he returns, he will almost certainly reclaim the feature back role. Can you afford to hold him?
If Benson isn’t costing you a roster spot, then there’s no reason to drop him. Don’t drop any player if their remaining on your roster isn’t restricting you in any way.
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This is for those managers who need the spot. Benson will have value when he returns, but that is likely going to be on the longer end of the projected timeline.
When he does get back on the field, it will be as the lead back on a bad team. His upside isn’t so significant that you can’t afford to let someone else have him. If you need the spot, don’t feel compelled to hold Benson.
Hassan Haskins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Rostered: 51%
Prior to Week 6, Adam Schefter reported that Hassan Haskins was likely going to be the lead back with Kimani Vidal also seeing work. There’s no reason to doubt that’s how the Los Angeles Chargers felt heading into the game. But they have no allegiance to either back.
Neither is particularly talented, and Omarion Hampton will be the feature back the moment he can return. It was always going to be a hot hand situation.
Well, Vidal had the hot hand. A very hot hand. He played 67% of the snaps against 32% for Haskins and out-touched the veteran 21-7. With that said, it would not shock anyone if Haskins found a groove next week and he wound up seeing more work. But it’s clear right now that Vidal is ahead.
Haskins has never been fantasy-relevant in his career, and there’s no reason to think it will happen now. While Vidal hasn’t either, he’s in his second season. It’s far more likely that Vidal is better than expected and never got an opportunity than Haskins, who already had the team that drafted him give up on him.
Given the usage and performance disparity, Haskins can be returned to the waiver wire if necessary.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, New York Giants
Rostered: 50%
Tyrone Tracy Jr. is still the New York Giants’ RB2. If something were to happen to Cam Skattebo, which is certainly possible given his desire to hit anything and everything as hard as he can when he runs, Tracy would suddenly have fantasy value. Right now, though, he has none.
The Giants leaned on Skattebo on Thursday night. He rewarded their faith by delivering 110 total yards and three touchdowns on 21 touches. Tracy carried the ball four times for six yards.
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This is not a timeshare. This is Skattebo’s backfield. Tracy went from potentially being the 1b in a committee to clear backup.
Much like every other pure handcuff, they only need to be rostered if there isn’t a superior option available. If there is someone you want to add who has more immediate value than Tracy’s injury contingent value, don’t feel tethered to Tracy.
Joe Mixon, RB, Houston Texans
Rostered: 48%
We’ve reached the point in the season where injuries and bye weeks are starting to take their toll on fantasy rosters. Even though Joe Mixon doesn’t directly cost a roster spot, he may indirectly do so if he occupies an IR spot that another player could use.
If you have a relatively healthy team and open IR spots, by all means, don’t drop Mixon. This is for the fantasy managers who need to make moves, but aren’t quite sure if it’s okay to drop him. It is.
We haven’t gotten any concrete updates on Mixon’s timeline to return, so every bit of news we have gotten has been pessimistic. The most likely scenario is that he doesn’t play football this year. Do not feel obligated to hold Mixon any longer.
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 44%
Whenever you draft rookies, you have to be prepared to be patient, especially early in the season. It’s unrealistic to expect every rookie to burst out of the gate with instant fantasy value.
That was the case for Bhayshul Tuten, who was always going to open the season behind Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby. But Bigsby was traded to the Eagles weeks ago, and it’s now been six weeks of this being mostly a two-man backfield. Yet, Tuten hasn’t made any sort of move on Etienne’s lead-back status.
Last week, Etienne played 60% of the snaps and touched the ball 16 times. Tuten had five opportunities, matching his total from each of the past two weeks. He isn’t even the clear RB2, as LeQuint Allen operates as the passing-down back. He out-snapped Tuten 18-11.
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If Etienne were to go down, Allen’s role would remain unchanged, though. Tuten is the handcuff and would be the primary back in that scenario. However, the theory behind drafting Tuten was that there was a path to him seeing fantasy-relevant work without an injury to Etienne.
At this point in the season, it’s safe to say that is no longer the case. Tuten needs an injury. He is officially a pure handcuff, and pure handcuffs only need to be rostered to the extent there isn’t a superior option.
Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 27%
Emari Demercado is essentially LeQuint Allen. These are pure passing-down backs who will never see significant early-down work.
The Cardinals lost James Conner and Trey Benson. Demercado was the RB3 each week while those two were healthy. Yet, he was passed over for Michael Carter as the lead back. Then, Carter was demoted after one week as the starter. It wasn’t Demercado who elevated to the lead role, though. Instead, it was Bam Knight.
That is reason enough to drop Demercado. But he also suffered an ankle injury. Fantasy managers do not need to roster a pure satellite back on a bad offense with no path to upside.
Wide Receivers: Keon Coleman, WR, Buffalo Bills
Rostered: 66%
Another week, another dismal effort from Keon Coleman. The sophomore caught three passes for 11 yards, so he’s now failed to score more than 7.5 points in four of his last five games. If not for a fluke touchdown two weeks ago, it would’ve been five straight. Even with injuries to Dalton Kincaid, Curtis Samuel, and Joshua Palmer, he couldn’t get going.
Coleman had a rough rookie season and has shown no improvement as a sophomore. He cannot separate and thus does not earn targets. His Week 1 explosion was purely a product of the sheer amount of plays the Bills ran in negative game script. There is no upside with Coleman. Drop him.
Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: 40%
The fantasy regular season will officially be at its midpoint after next week. Yet, we are no closer to a Brandon Aiyuk return than we were back in August. The best update we have is that head coach Kyle Shanahan expects to have a more concrete timeline “soon.”
You figure that even when the announcement of Aiyuk’s return comes, we’re still at least three weeks away from him playing football beyond that. So maybe in the best-case scenario, we get him back in Week 11.
There will be a ramp-up process and heavy target competition with Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, Christian McCaffrey, and, apparently, Kendrick Bourne. Maybe you’re compelled to use Aiyuk in Week 12. But, again, these dates really are ambitious.
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The San Francisco 49ers have a Week 14 bye. How worth it is it to hold Aiyuk for the potential to use him for a week or two in the fantasy regular season? Then, if he doesn’t quite look like himself, which it’s unlikely he will, are you trusting him in the first round of the playoffs?
All of this is to say the scenario in which Aiyuk contributes anything meaningful this season gets less likely by the week. If you need the roster spot, feel free to move on.
Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Rostered: 28%
Last year, Darnell Mooney was a nice story. He rebounded from the abyss that was the Chicago Bears to return WR3 fantasy value, averaging 12.1 fantasy points per game. That seemingly made his WR40-plus ADP a great value this season. Unfortunately, his run-out hasn’t been what fantasy managers had hoped.
Mooney missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury. He returned in Week 2 and was eased back into the fold. Then, he earned 11 targets in Week 3, but only caught four for 44 yards. He strained his hamstring in Week 4 during a 1-15 effort.
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We are now headed into Week 7. Mooney has yet to deliver anything resembling a productive outing. He missed last week’s game with the hamstring injury and did not practice at all leading up to it. Mooney’s return does not appear imminent.
At best, Mooney is a fringe WR3. He’s startable, but he’s not a difference maker. That is not someone fantasy managers need to hold while he recovers from his second injury of the season.
Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos
Rostered: 24%
Remember when Troy Franklin posted an 8-89-1 line in Week 2. The breakout was here. He has the Oregon connection with Bo Nix. Managers rushed to the waiver wire to grab him. Since then, Franklin has seen more than five targets in a game just once and failed to hit double-digit points entirely. Week 2 remains his only game with over 9.5 points.
Courtland Sutton is the only Denver Broncos WR with a consistent role. Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., and now Pat Bryant are combining to serve as the team’s WR2. Given Franklin’s inconsistent role and lack of production, anyone who grabbed him in September can return him to the waiver wire.
Tight Ends: Juwan Johnson, TE, New Orleans Saints
Rostered: 46%
The trajectory of Juwan Johnson’s season is a huge spike and then a line pointing directly down. He opened the season with games of 15.6 and 15.9 fantasy points. Those are elite TE1 numbers. In Week 3, Johnson had a very respectable 11.1 points.
Across those first three contests, the New Orleans Saints tight end saw target counts of 11, 9, and 8. In his last three, Johnson has a total of nine targets, and his 5.8 fantasy points in Week 4 represent his most productive outing.
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Johnson’s snap share fell to 71% last week. The returns of Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill are starting to chip away at his stranglehold on the TE1 role. He is no longer a reliable weekly starter. If you can stream his production, which you can, then Johnson is not a must-roster player.
Brenton Strange, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 20%
We’ll keep this one short and sweet since Brenton Strange is already not particularly heavily rostered. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight end injured his hip on Thursday night. The injury will cost him at least five weeks, and he is already on IR.
Strange was a serviceable TE, but not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. He has yet to score a touchdown and topped out at 12.1 fantasy points in Week 3. This is not the type of player you hold through a lengthy injury.