NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Cowboys, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians is almost as renowned for his bluntness as he is for his coaching ability. So when he says he wouldn’t have a hard time trimming the 90-man roster by a third today, he’s not only trying to motivate his players. 

“Our rookies have gotten close to 500 snaps,” Arians said via Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. “So we kind of know what they can do now. It would be easy to cut down to 60 right now for me. But again we’ve got preseason games coming up, and maybe guys can show up more when the lights come on than they have in practice.”

• Arians says DL Jeremiah Ledbetter has a high ankle sprain that will hopefully keep him out only two weeks, per the Athletic’s Greg Auman.

Cowboys

Cowboys DE Robert Quinn said he disagrees with the NFL’s ruling against his appeal of a two-game suspension. 

“I mean the data kind of proves itself, and at this point it ain’t going to change nothing,” Quinn said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “What’s going to happen is going to happen and just got to look forward to what I can do.”

Quinn and his agent believe his sample that led to a violation should have been recorded as a false positive. 

“As my agent said, it should have recorded as a false positive, and I’m just going to leave it at that,” Quinn said.

Panthers

• So far according to Over The Cap, the Panthers have the least amount of players signed in 2020 and 2021 of any team in the NFL. Carolina has 41 players signed through 2020 and 28 signed through 2021.
• The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue and Joseph Person say that’s due to a combination of needing to create cap space for an extension for QB Cam Newton, signing several veterans to one-year “prove-it” deals in an effort to win in 2019 and new owner David Tepper continuing to evaluate everyone in the organization. 
• Both HC Ron Rivera and GM Marty Hurney are currently signed only through the 2020 season as well. Person says he believes Tepper “blows up” the team if they miss the playoffs again. 
• Rodrigue and Person believe RB Cameron Artis-Payne has done enough to secure his roster spot, with rookie fifth-rounder Jordan Scarlett and UDFA Elijah Holyfield battling for the third and final spot. 
• Rodrigue calls it a “make or break year” for Panthers former first-round DT Vernon Butler. 
• Rodrigue mentions seventh-round WR Terry Godwin is currently in the lead for punt returner, though WR Jaydon Mickens is also pushing for a spot. The winner would likely round out the end of the receiving corps. 
• Person believes the Panthers will keep three quarterbacks, with Kyle Allen and third-round rookie Will Grier getting the nod.