Buccaneers

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes that despite the saber-rattling, he thinks the deal between the Buccaneers and QB Baker Mayfield should prove to be relatively straightforward. Two straight franchise tags after this season would work out to around $55 million a year, so Breer thinks that will be a solid floor for a long-term deal. 
• He adds despite Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline of the start of training camp, he thinks a deal will get done before Week 1. Breer expects Tampa Bay to really dive into negotiations this coming week. 

Panthers

Carolina brought back veteran OL Brady Christensen ahead of training camp, as he’s recently been cleared for contact following a torn Achilles suffered last season. Christensen loves the close chemistry they’ve built in Carolina and can’t wait to get back to work with his football family. 

“You know, I think it’s cliché, but it really does feel like a family here,” Christensen said, via the team’s website. “And that’s hard to do in the NFL because everyone’s coming and going and there’s a lot of change and a lot of turnover.”

“But I came walking back here, and I felt like I was coming back to my family, and I mean that. And so I’m very grateful, and I think that’s the biggest change from maybe the previous years, we’re just one big family that we’re going to go out there and compete together.”

Christensen couldn’t say enough about returning six of their core offensive linemen from last year. 

“Yeah, I think it’s huge. I mean, you’re not ever going to have the same O-line unit, but to have that continuity is huge. To have some of the mainstays here, still here and leading the room, I think that’s going to be huge for the whole team.”

Panthers

The Panthers brought back veteran WR David Moore on another one-year deal for 2026 for his age-31 season and ninth year in the NFL. Carolina OC Brad Idzik praised Moore’s consistency and application ability, which sets the tone for the rest of the younger guys in the room. 

“It’s his consistency of showing up, his consistency of learning and applying in the meeting room and then going out in the field and his consistency for the quarterbacks when he is playing,” Idzik said, via the team’s website. “He has a great feel for what you’re trying to accomplish if you give him the why, and that consistency of — you give him something, he applies it. Guys see that.”

Moore went into his technicalities of the position, describing how he approaches each play based on the quarterback’s drop. Based on different routes and quarterback drops along with the offensive line getting tired, he explained how to know the speed he needs to get in and out of his route for each rep.  

“You have to have a QB time clock too in your head as a receiver,” Moore said. “So, he’s taking however many steps back. So when he gets done with those steps, he’s looking to fire.”

“Say we have this six-step route where he’s playing man on, man up, stuff like that. Well, this route is probably going to have to be sped up just a little bit because it’s like a four- or five-step. I’m going against my six steps, plus somebody is trying to stop me from taking steps, so it’s going to be sped up a little bit in my route. So it’s just little things like that that go in with Bryce, and then just being in the league long enough, you know, every QB has these steps.”

“You’ve got to know what the defensive line is looking like. The offensive line is tired and like, all right, we got to move it. We got to get the ball out, it’s just things like that I’ve been there for three years now with, so, I know his footwork, and he gets that.”

Beyond just his on-field fundamentals, Panthers QB Bryce Young raved about Moore’s knowledgeable but positive energy that he brings to the team daily. 

“On a day-to-day, he just brings great energy,” Young added. “Everyone will tell you he’s a joy to be around. He’s hilarious. He always keeps the vibes high in that receiver room, and when you have a vet for that room like that, that’s knowledgeable, knows exactly what to do, you can go to him and ask about details of a route, but it’s not in a preachy way, you know he’s cool with everyone in the locker room.”