NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

• Greg Auman notes the top three cornerbacks on the Buccaneers roster are Carlton Davis,  Jamel Dean, and Sean Murphy-Bunting.
• According to Auman, Ryan Smith likely has the fourth cornerback spot, followed by Herb Miller, Mazzi Wilkins, and Parnell Motley who will all compete for the fifth spot.
• Auman adds the Buccaneers were clearly convinced to move on from CB M.J. Stewart since the team will actually take an additional cap hit of $888,000 from his prorated signing bonus on their 2020 cap. 

Falcons

The Falcons already had to do some cost-cutting this offseason to get under the salary cap and it won’t get any easier in 2021. Atlanta currently has $220 million in salary commitments which could make for a huge hole if the 2021 cap is at its floor of $175 million. However, Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff says that’s not catching the team by surprise. 

“We are spending a lot of time on that, making sure that we have our ducks in line,” Dimitroff said via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You know how I am, we will never look at something as catastrophic. We will find a way to navigate through like a lot of teams out there.”

Dimitroff said the team would get creative to try and preserve as much of a contending team around QB Matt Ryan as possible, while also bringing up the possibility of asking some players to take pay cuts. 

“I think we’ll have to use all of our tools moving forward giving where we are right now,” Dimitroff said. “Again, what I’m talking about is when you have your veteran quarterback and veteran receiver and a few other players that make top dollar, upper echelon football players, an organization is going to have to use all of the tools in their bag.

“The great thing here is that we have people that are very open and mindful in talking about it. I understand that it’s not easy for a player to talk about re-structuring and potentially (take a) pay reduction. That’s not ideally where we want to be, but at times those discussions can occur, of course, because they have to. That’s all of our responsibility.”

Panthers

• Per the Athletic’s Joe Person, Panthers HC Matt Rhule said it’s TE Ian Thomas‘ turn to be the starter now that Greg Olsen is gone. 
• Rhule added he thinks Panthers No. 2 TE Chris Manhertz is one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL.