Free Agency Review - NFC South

If the NFC North was one of the more active divisions during free agency, the NFC South could definitely be seen as one of the more inactive. A lot of the major signings were internal with a few minor exceptions. There are a lot of teams looking for bounce backs and some appear to be looking for better fortunes rather than changing personnel.

-Tampa Bay Buccaneers-

Key Additions:

Chandler Catanzaro

K

3yrs

$9.75m

Contract extensions have been the order of the day for Tampa Bay with some big names signing big extensions. Mike Evans, Cameron Brate and Adam Humphreys signed 2, 6 and 1 year deals respectively and all feature in the Bucs long term plans. The big headline to come from this is at Tight End with Brate and OJ Howard now both under contract for considerable time. It’s a nightmare for fantasy owners, especially in dynasty formats, but for the team it should only be a good thing.

At the back end they traded with the Giants for Jason Pierre-Paul, giving up a 3^rd round pick and swapping 4^th rounder’s. Other than that their only real off-season acquisition has been Kicker Chandler Catanzaro which would normally not cause much noise but remember that this is the team cursed at kicker since moving up into the second round to draft Roberto Aguayo…

The Bucs will be looking for Jameis Winston to be fully recovered from whatever was holding him back last season and to rekindle the magic with his receivers. Last season could just have been a blip and totally injury related, but they definitely need help at running back before the season begins.

-Atlanta Falcons-

Key Additions:

Logan Paulsen

TE

1yr

$1m

Erm… this isn’t going to take long. The Falcons still believe in a team that isn’t far removed from the one which blew a 28-3 lead in the Superbowl two years ago. They’ve lost a few pieces and not replaced any as of yet so it’ll be interesting to see how they attack the upcoming draft.

The major outgoings have been Dontari Poe and Adrian Clayborn to Carolina and New England respectively and also Taylor Gabriel moving to the Bears. The two defensive juggernauts are physically big losses but they aren’t likely to affect the team all that much while losing the speed and acceleration provided by Gabriel is not going to give Matt Ryan cause for concern when you consider the depth they have.

Really the Falcons do have the personnel they need and a few pieces in the draft will keep them as contenders. The main issue is with the coaching as Steve Sarkisian is far from convincing as a head coach. If they struggle this year I can see the coach getting the blame as their roster really should be able to compete with the best of them.

-Carolina Panthers-

Key Additions:

Torrey Smith	WR	Trade
Jarius Wright	WR	3yrs	$7.5m

Carolina made some surprising moves last year, especially in sending Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills and leaving themselves remarkably light at Wide Receiver. To me they still are light in that position and adding Jarius Wright isn’t a move which helps to rectify this. Trading for Torrey Smith does help but it relies on Devin Funchess being their WR1 and he nearly proved it last year with 63 receptions for 840yds and 8TDs, but he still needs to convince a few people. It’s often written that Cam Newton is not a passing Quarterback and that’s probably why the Panthers give him very few weapons beyond Devin Funchess and Greg Olsen in the long game and Christian McCaffrey in the shorter game.

They need some help on offence in general. They lost Andrew Norwell at guard, Jonathan Stewart at Running Back and Ed Dickson at Tight End but Cam being Cam will still think he can do it all himself. On Defense, losing Star Lotulelei to the Bills and Kurt Coleman to New Orleans and Thomas Davis getting a 4 game suspension for a PED violation leaves them looking a little light although Dontari Poe will fill one of those gaps.

The Panthers seem to be a little unsure which way they want to go and how they are going to get there. I get the feeling Cam Newton, no matter how talented he is, isn’t the player the Panthers need at QB. His skill set is very unique and in many ways troublesome. What use is a quarterback you can’t trust the throw the ball; especially for short passes? The only way the Panthers improve is if their quarterback becomes a better passer, if he continues being Cam and trying to take on everyone himself, I can see whoever their new backup QB is going to be getting a few starts.

-New Orleans Saints-

Key Additions:

Drew Brees	QB	2yrs	$50m
Tom Savage	QB	1yr	$1.5m
Ben Watson	TE	1yr	$2m

The Saints also made their biggest move of this off-season by re-signing one of their own. Drew Brees returns on a 2yr, $50m deal which some observes could be forgiven for thinking may have been better off a little lower and more team friendly. Don’t get me wrong, he deserves every penny; but I would like to think at this stage that accolades and a run at getting another ring would take precedence. However, you have to look at their squad and say even with the cap hit he brings, the team has a shot.

Away from Brees they signed Tom Savage as a backup and Ben Watson at tight end since Coby Fleener really hasn’t worked out. Watson is up there in age but he had his uses in Baltimore last year and knows what he’s doing with the Saints so that was some solid business. They managed to tempt away Cameron Meredith from the Bears and adding him to Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn gives them 3 very capable receiving weapons, and that’s before you consider the receptions the running backs will take. The Saints defense also looks solid this season. Adding Demarco Davis, Patrick Robinson, Kurt Coleman and re-signing Alex Okafor give them pieces to play with and in truth they didn’t lose a lot. Raphael Bush and Kenny Vaccaro being the main departures.

The Saints will again lean on Brees, Thomas, Kamara and Ingram and a decent defense to try and take them all the way. I feel they could have made a bigger statement with a lower Brees contract and aimed so much higher, but when you look at the roster as a whole they’re maybe a few defensive pieces away from being the team to beat.