Blink this week and you might miss an earth-shaking move in the NFL. Since the legal tampering window began on Monday, several massive changes have taken place around the league, including a couple of former MVP quarterbacks preparing to leave their teams.
Nowhere have the shockwaves been felt more than in the NFC South, which is seeing two new starters come in. Let’s review the major moves around the division since the start of free agency.
Buccaneers get a big QB upgrade
Obviously, the biggest story of the week/month/year/decade is that Tom Brady is leaving the Patriots after 20 years and signing with the Buccaneers. While it’s not been announced yet, the move has pretty much been agreed to and is already having a trickle-down effect. This morning, Adam Schefter reported that a number of players have reached out to Tampa indicating they’d like a chance to join Brady.
Not only are the Bucs getting a Lebron James-like lure for top talent, they’re getting a pretty decent QB. While Brady is clearly on the decline physically, he’s still one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the game and his production in 2019 was somewhat hampered by a lack of weapons. That won’t be a problem here, as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin might be the most potent receiver combo in football right now.
Brady can’t compete with Jameis Winston’s arm strength, but he’s going to make far fewer mistakes. Winston has thrown 88 interceptions since he came into the league five years ago. During the same time period, Brady has thrown just 36. Bruce Arians knows how to engineer his offense to his QB’s strengths as well as anyone, so any concerns about that match are silly. Bottom line, this makes Tampa Bay a much tougher team and they’re not even close to finished yet.
The Bucs have also re-signed Jason Pierre-Paul and franchise tagged Shaquil Barrett, who combined for 28 sacks last year.
Saints bring back star safety
Tampa Bay may be coming up, but New Orleans is still the team to beat in this division. The Saints have bolstered their defense by bringing back safety Malcolm Jenkins, who they drafted back in 2009. During his time with the Eagles (2014-2019) Jenkins developed into one of the top safeties in the league. Signing him to a four-year, $32 million deal is a steal and makes what was already a strong secondary that much better.
The Saints have also re-signed Drew Brees and Taysom Hill, solidifying their quarterback rotation after seeing their top backup Teddy Bridgewater go to the Panthers. They have also retained defensive tackle David Onyemata on a relatively team-friendly three-year, $27 million deal.
New Orleans has also lost former Panthers linebacker A.J. Klein, who signed with the Bills (of course). Cornerback Eli Apple is also on his way out, agreeing to a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Don’t expect to see many more moves from the Saints, who only have around $5.6 million in salary cap space left according to Over the Cap. This gives the Bucs an opening to really make up ground depending on who they bring in over the next few weeks and how well they do in the 2020 draft.
The purge begins for the Falcons
Carolina fans who are fretting about the direction of the franchise can at least take comfort that they’re not the only team in the NFC South entering a rough rebuilding period.
The story for Atlanta is a mass exodus of long-time starters. Their greatest loss thus far has been releasing top cornerback Desmond Trufant after seven years. He has already agreed to terms with the Lions. Trufant may not have lived up to his contract. However, he was still by far their best cover corner and they’ll need to find a quality replacement or they’re going to get roasted by the likes of Brees and Brady all year.
The Falcons are also losing running back Devonta Freeman, offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo, defensive end Vic Beasley and tight end Austin Hooper, who the Browns are making the highest-paid player at the position.
As far as additions go, the only significant move they’ve made so far is signing EDGE Dante Fowler, who is a nice pickup for them and qualifies as a significant step up over Beasley. Fowler is just 25 years old and is coming off a career-best year with 11.5 sacks in 2019. He should boost a floundering pass rush that finished last season ranked No. 29 in sacks.
Panthers bring in Bridgewater
By now, you know the Panthers are signing former Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year, $63 million deal and Cam Newton is now on the trade block. While we don’t like the way Newton has been treated and believe this is a step down at the most important position on the field, Bridgewater is an excellent fit and they’re getting him at a bargain price compared to what extending Newton would have cost.
Carolina is also signing Seth Roberts, who brings some badly-needed size and depth to the wide receiver corps.
However, the major dynamic at work here is similar to Atlanta’s and much worse. Already, they’ve seen several important defensive players sign elsewhere. That includes Mario Addison and Vernon Butler (Bills), Bruce Irvin (Seahawks), James Bradberry (Giants) and Gerald McCoy (Cowboys). In a surprising move, strong safety Eric Reid has also been released and will likely be signing elsewhere soon.
To help make up for these exits, the Panthers are bringing in a handful of low-cost free agents, including defensive end Stephen Weatherly, safety Juston Burris and guard John Miller. Apparently the plan is to start Tre Boston (who’s signed a three-year extension) and Burris at safety this year. That’s a pretty big gamble for Matt Rhule, who will likely have to make do with several backups having to start on both sides of the ball.
Overall, it’s clear that the Panthers’ roster has been downgraded. Fans should try to be patient and remember these things take time. Things should look up in 2021 when the rebuild begins to take shape.
