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A couple of NFL veterans were given their walking papers just days before Christmas in a cruel reminder that this is a business.

Mark Bradley had three catches for 52 yards and a score in Kansas City’s 41-34 loss to the Browns. That wasn’t enough for him to ring in the New Year with the Chiefs though. Mark had a disappointing season with 24 catches for 320 yards and 2 TDs. He had 30 catches for 380 yards and 3 TDs  last year for the Chiefs. The writing should have been on the wall as Kansas City seemed to look at every WR that came available, including bringing in Bobby Wade and Chris Chambers. He’ll likely catch on somewhere, perhaps not until next year, but he likely won’t have any fantasy value ever again.

In a move that has much more fantasy football signficance, the Saints chose Garrett Hartley over John Carney. Hartley is 7 for 8 on Field Goal attempts, with his only miss coming from 50+ yars. Meanwhile Carney 13 of 17, with three misses coming from 30-39 yards. With a juicy match-up against Tampa Bay this week, and Sean Payton announcing that he won’t rest players this week, start Hartley with confidence against the Bucs in your fantasy football championship game.

Kansas City cut WR Amani Toomer, paving the way for Mark Bradley to start opposite of Dwayne Bowe.  With Matt Cassel hurting, this offense has a chance to be pretty dreadful this year.  Devard Darling is out for the year with a knee injury, and Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey got the boot.  This is a work in progress, but lower your expectations of Bowe, Cassel, and Larry Johnson.

Rookie holdouts seldom have a happy ending.  The contract typically isn’t much better than what originally offered.  The player falls way behind in learning the system, and often injures himself as he tries to rush to get up to speed.  That’s what happened with Cincinnati Tackle Andre Smith.  The first-rounder fractured his foot before the ink even dried on his contract.  He will miss a couple of weeks and could have a hard time getting on the field this season.  The Bengals did get some good news, though, when Carson Palmer returned to practice.

Written by Lisa Danhof

Fair Warning: I’m not clairvoyant. I don’t even play one on TV. That said, it really doesn’t take a crystal ball to anticipate some changes for your team. So, with a bit of deductive reasoning, logic, and historical evaluation you can finally stop reacting and start anticipating. For once you won’t be sniped at the waiver wire, but actually be ahead of the curve.

Jabar Gaffney – NE WR 8.8% owned.
Gaffney was a sleeper candidate for many shrewd fantasy football owners at the beginning of this season. Unfortunately he got off to a slow start and is now down to less than 10% owned. After reviewing his stats for the last two weeks: 12 catches, 174 yds, 1TD, perhaps he deserves a second look. Gaffney has a tough week 13 matchup against the Steelers but then starts the first round of most league playoffs in week 14 against Seattle, who is 30th against the pass. Both he and QB Matt Cassel seem to be getting hot at just the right time.

Mark Bradley – KC WR 24.1% owned.
Bradley has been very consistent over the last five weeks, grabbing at least three catches each game and averaging about 50 yards per game while scoring three touchdowns. In weeks 14-16 the Chiefs face Denver, San Diego and Miami who are 25th, 32nd and 28th against the pass respectively. You’ll be hard pressed to find more favorable playoff matchups.

Davone Bess – MIA WR 0.4% owned.
Admittedly, Bess is the longest shot of the three I am mentioning here, but someone besides Ted Ginn Jr. has to catch what Chad Pennington is throwing and is looking like it will be Bess. In last week’s game Camarillo left with a season ending knee injury and Bess stepped up and had his best game as a pro, catching five passes for 87 yards. Some easy matchups in the playoffs don’t hurt his cause either. In the upcoming weeks the Dolphins face Buffalo (16th against the pass); San Francisco (29th); and Kansas City (27th).