Best fantasy football D/ST waiver wire pickups for Week 10

Hello and welcome to the Week 10 waiver wire watch!

Another weekend of NFL action is mostly in the books and we’re officially at the halfway point of the 2025 regular season. It was just a decent weekend for defenses and special teams on the fantasy front as 10 units were able to finish with at least seven fantasy points for the week.

We’ll go over some D/ST squads that you should consider scooping off the waiver wire ahead of Week 10 and as always, we’ll classify a waiver add as someone who is rostered in 50% of leagues at the max.

Week 10 byes: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans

The Bills won their latest rivalry matchup against the Chiefs on Sunday, sending them packing in a 28-21 victory. The defense successfully stymied Patrick Mahomes all throughout this showdown by holding him to under 50% passing with 15 QB hits, five passes defensed, three sacks, and an interception. Their impact was definitely felt, even if they only came away with five fantasy points for the afternoon.

Buffalo’s D has an opportunity to stack another strong performance in Week 10 when facing a Miami team that looked abysmal in their 28-6 loss to the Ravens last Thursday night. The Dolphins are constantly behind schedule as the offense ranks 30th in success rate, opening the door for the Bills to put Tua Tagovailoa in tough second and third-down situations that could lead to extra turnovers.

Cleveland is fresh off its bye and it can at least hang its hat on having a solid defense in an otherwise miserable season. Averaging 7.3 fantasy points per game, the Browns are top-10 in several defensive metrics like EPA per play, success rate, sack rate, and interception rate. It’s a shame that it is being wasted by an offense with such mediocre quarterback play because they’d otherwise be right in the thick of a wide open AFC North race.

Anyway, the Browns are going up against one of the worst offenses in the league in the Jets this Sunday and Justin Fields (or Tyrod Taylor) will have no choice but to use their legs to escape the clutches of Myles Garrett this week. I’m confident that Cleveland’s D can wreak enough havoc to almost win this game by themselves.

The biggest surprise of Week 9 involved the Panthers stunning the Packers in a 16-13 victory at Lambeau Field on Sunday as they never allowed Jordan Love and company to get comfortable. Four passes defensed, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one interception was all it took for them to exit with the victory and those bold enough to start them for the week were rewarded with nine fantasy points.

Carolina gets New Orleans at home this Sunday and at this point, you should be hunting for whatever D/ST unit is playing the 1-8 franchise every week. The Saints have combined for just 13 points over their last two games as they’re now trotting out rookie Tyler Shough at quarterback to see what he’s got. There’s a huge opportunity for the Panthers to eat and keep their momentum rolling this week.