The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Who to Drop for Fantasy Football Week 15

Rob's fantasy football players to drop when making waiver wire moves for Week 15 (2025). He helps fantasy football managers decide on who to cut from rosters.

Welcome to the first round of the fantasy football playoffs! Hopefully, if you're reading this, you've made it to the dance. Ideally, you may even have a first-round bye. Now that we're officially down to one-week seasons. It's win-or-go-home, so every decision matters. The margin of error is now minimal.

When you're cutting a player now, it's essential to make sure the player you're cutting isn't going to improve anyone's starting lineup that is left in the playoffs. If you think it might be, consider how much of an upgrade you're getting by dropping that player, then decide if it's worth it.

This article will identify players who can safely be cut in 12-team leagues. Be sure to also check out my waiver wire article for Week 15, because with almost every cut, there's a new addition we welcome to our team.

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Running Backs to Consider Cutting

Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs - 62.4% Rostered

Kareem Hunt continues to play significantly more snaps than Pacheco. This, unsurprisingly, has resulted in Hunt leading the backfield in carries. Since Pacheco sprained his MCL, Hunt has taken on a much larger role in the offense. Earlier in the year, Pacheco was the early-down back, while Hunt primarily worked on third-downs and near the end zone. When Pacheco went down, Hunt became a workhorse, a true three-down back.

While Pacheco's return has reduced Hunt's role, he is still the clear No. 1 back for the Chiefs. He has led the team's backfield in snaps, routes run, targets, and rushes. On top of that, Hunt continues to be the team's primary back near the end zone. This effectively leaves Pachaco as nothing more than a handcuff. While that may sound appealing, we've seen Hunt in that role, and he performed as a backend RB2.

That's Pacheco's best-case scenario, and it involves Hunt getting hurt. Given that we only have three weeks left in the fantasy football season and the payoff is minimal, teams can safely move on from Pacheco if they need to.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders - 47.5% Rostered

Croskey-Merritt has effectively fallen to No. 3 on the Washington depth chart. Chris Rodriguez Jr. is the team's early-down and primary ball-carrier. He's also the team's preferred option for short-yardage and goal-line situations. Jeremy McNichols is the team's passing specialist. He handles obvious passing situations, third-downs, and the two-minute drill. This leaves Croskey-Merritt as a middling third option with absolutely no stand-alone value.

An injury doesn't even fully solve his problems because Rodriguez or McNichols would still be involved. Croskey-Merritt cannot be started under any circumstances right now. The best-case scenario for him would be an injury to Rodriguez. Rodriguez is nothing more than an RB3 or a flex option, and he's been very efficient! Croskey-Merritt hasn't been efficient all year, which would leave him as a borderline flex option even in the best-case scenario.

Other Running Backs to Consider Cutting:

• Nick Chubb, Houston Texans - 41.3% Rostered
• Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans - 32.7% Rostered

Wide Receivers to Consider Cutting

D.J. Moore, Chicago Bears - 82.6% Rostered

Moore is nothing more than a (multi) touchdown-dependent WR4. In Week 3, he scored one touchdown and finished with 10.8 half-PPR points. In Week 9, against Cincinnati, he rushed for a score and threw for one. In this contest, he scored 21 half-PPR points. Against Pittsburgh in Week 12, he caught two touchdowns and finished with 20.9 half-PPR points. His very best game this season with one touchdown or less is 10.8 half-PPR points.

DJ Moore just got lit up behind the line of scrimmage pic.twitter.com/iuAG7M51Ly

— Depressed Bears Fan (@DepBearsFan) December 7, 2025

Without a touchdown, his best half-PPR total is 9.6. In his 10 games without a touchdown, he's averaging 4.9 half-PPR PPG. In four of his last five games, Moore has scored fewer than 4.0 half-PPR points. This includes games of 0.0, 2.6, 3.7, and 0.1 points. Even with Rome Odunze injured, Moore is cuttable.

Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers - 70.4% Rostered

With Christian Watson and Jayden Reed back in the fold, Doubs does not need to stay on rosters. In his last five games, Doubs has had games of five, 53, 23, 20, and zero yards. He's averaging just 20 yards per game since Week 10. Week 9 was the last time that Doubs had more than five targets. Since the team's bye in Week 5, Doubs has just three games with double-digit points and zero games with over 13.

Romeo Doubs is Quickly Losing Steam https://t.co/l3RzqHblIj

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) December 6, 2025

Doubs has had three of his worst games of the season since Watson returned to the lineup seven games ago. This offense is going to flow through Josh Jacobs, Watson, and Reed. Doubs will remain an afterthought. He may catch a random red-zone target, but that's unpredictable, and even that seems far less likely now with the Packers' receiver group at full health.

Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos - 66.3% Rostered

At one point in the season, it looked as though Franklin was taking over as the No. 1 receiver in Denver. He was out-targeting Courtland Sutton, but the problem was just how ineffective Franklin was. Over the past few weeks, head coach Sean Payton has shown that he's over the Franklin experiment.

Third-round rookie Pat Bryant has out-snapped, out-targeted, and run more routes than Franklin in two straight games since the team's bye in Week 12. That's notable because teams often use the bye week to integrate their rookies further, and it seems as though that's been the case for Bryant. The Denver offense is middling as it is, especially its passing offense, and now Franklin has fallen behind Sutton and Bryant.

Other Wide Receivers to Consider Cutting:

• Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers - 85.0% Rostered
• Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts - 50.6% Rostered
• Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons - 47.7% Rostered
• Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills - 45.8% Rostered
• Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers - 42.7% Rostered
• Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders - 36.0% Rostered
• Marquise Brown, Kansas City Chiefs - 24.1% Rostered
• Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers - 20.1% Rostered
• Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 18.7% Rostered

Tight Ends to Consider Cutting

Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers - 70.3% Rostered

This offense is a shell of its former self. Both tackles are hurt. The offensive line is decimated. Justin Herbert has no time to throw the football. He's playing with a broken left hand. Gadsden himself had also dealt with an injury a few weeks ago and, based on his performance, could still be struggling with its aftereffects.

Since Week 10, Gadsden has scored 2.8, 5.1, 3.2, and 1.2 half-PPR points. He's now been held to fewer than 15 yards in three of his last four games.

Other Tight Ends to Consider Cutting:

• David Njoku, Cleveland Browns - 50.8% Rostered
• Evan Engram, Denver Broncos - 42.9% Rostered
• Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 34.5% Rostered

Holding, but Benching

Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots - 91.5% Rostered

Diggs's playing time decreased in the two bye weeks before the team's Week 14 bye, resulting in games of 3.0 and 4.1 half-PPR points. However, before that, he had rattled off 13.1, 19.6, 4.3, 10.4, 8.9, 11.3, 13.1, and 15.0 during an eight-game span. Fantasy managers can often fall victim to recency bias, and I received many questions about cutting Diggs, but it's only been two rough games.

Before that, he had been an incredibly consistent fantasy asset. He has some excellent matchups coming up against Baltimore and the Jets. After his last two games, Diggs is tough to trust right now, but he's shown enough this year that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

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