NFL Player News

Hardman (pelvis) is inactive for Saturday's game against the Raiders.

Hardman, who last suited up in Week 9, was listed as questionable by the Chiefs after practicing in a limited fashion Wednesday and Thursday and he'll sit this one out with an eye toward returning to action in the playoffs. In his continued absence, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson and Ihmir Smith-Marsette will handle the Chiefs' Week 18 wideout duties.

Coutee was elevated from the Colts' practice squad Saturday.

The depth target has one catch with the Colts despite six appearances since Week 6. Coutee was active for one play in Week 17, a special-teams snap, and likely will likely see limited action at best to round out the 2022 campaign.

Thomas, who is on injured reserve due to a dislocated toe, restructured his contract with the Saints on Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

The big change is the addition of a nearly $32 million roster bonus guaranteed on the third day of the new league year. The untenable number comes in replace of nearly $14 million in 2023 base salary, essentially allowing the Saints to realize cap savings sooner when they eventually cut the former All-Pro wideout this offseason. While the Saints would still be on the hook for some of the roster bonus even with a post-June 1 designation, it's still an important restructuring for the franchise, which is once again steeped in salary cap woes. For Thomas, the contract change could allow the oft-injured target to hit the open market sooner than the start of free agency and thus draw more interest from teams. The 29-year-old has played just 10 games since the end of the 2019 season.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell intimated Friday that Jefferson and other key starters on offense and defense may not play the entirety of the Vikings' Week 18 game in Chicago, Joe Nelson of SI.com reports. "We've got a pretty clear cut plan with how we want to go about the whole game, but we're going to go in with the expectation of our guys going and try to get off to a good start and play good football," O'Connell said.

Minnesota is assured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs regardless of how this weekend's games transpire, but since the Vikings will need a win over the Bears plus a Cardinals win over the heavily-favored 49ers to climb to the No. 2 seed, O'Connell may not have much incentive to expose key players to an injury heading into the wild-card round. While Jefferson and all of the Vikings' other starting skill-position players look poised to play at least one series, the uncertainty of whether they'll play much beyond that makes it tough to reliably project any in Week 18 season-long or DFS lineups.

Anderson (back) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the 49ers, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.

The 29-year-old wideout played 10 games for Arizona after an October trade, catching seven of 17 targets for 76 yards while mostly serving as the team's fourth or fifth wide receiver. Anderson will need to accept a pay cut to have any shot at sticking with the team, as his current contract calls for a non-guaranteed $8.8 million base salary and $3 million roster bonus in 2023, the final year of the deal. He'll be a free agent if/when the Cardinals release him.

Las Vegas elevated Lacy to its active roster from the practice squad Friday for Saturday's game against Kansas City.

Lacy will have a chance to make his season debut in Week 18 after spending the majority of the campaign on the Raiders' practice squad. The undrafted wideout out of Oklahoma State caught three of 10 targets for 60 yards in seven appearances for the Lions during the 2019 campaign, but he hasn't seen regular-season action since.

Kansas City elevated Smith-Marsette to its active roster from the practice squad Friday for Saturday's matchup against Las Vegas, Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com reports.

With Skyy Moore (hand) out and Mecole Hardman (pelvis) questionable, Smith-Marsette has been added to the active roster as insurance. In his lone appearance with Kansas City (Week 14), Smith-Marsette played three offensive snaps but didn't see any targets.

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Lockett (shin) -- who is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Rams -- looked good at Friday's practice and is expected to play, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.

Lockett injured his shin in his first game back after missing a week with a broken finger, ultimately seeing only two targets and 31 percent of the offensive snaps in the Seahawks' 23-6 win over New York last Sunday. Earlier this week, Lockett said he'll play in the must-win game this Sunday, and Carroll is singing the same tune after a successful showing in practice Friday. Cautious fantasy managers may want to stay tuned nonetheless ahead of Sunday's 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff, considering Carroll doesn't have the best track record of providing reliable injury information.

Samuel (ankle/knee) has no injury designation for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Samuel will make his first appearance since suffering an MCL sprain and ankle sprain Week 14. His normal workload isn't assured for the Week 18 game, but it's certainly possible given that he's been practicing since last Thursday.

Waddle (shoulder) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Jets, David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

After opening Week 18 prep with a pair of limited practices, Waddle was a full participant in Friday's session, putting to rest any concern about his status for the regular-season finale. As the Dolphins aim to secure a playoff spot Sunday, Waddle will be working with third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson, whom head coach Mike McDaniel named the team's Week 18 starter with Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) ruled out and with Teddy Bridgewater (finger/knee) listed as questionable and expected to be available only in a backup capacity. In Thompson's lone other start Week 6 against the Vikings, Waddle finished with six catches for 129 yards on 10 targets.