Home Buccaneers NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

  • Greg Auman reports the Buccaneers are giving new RB Giovani Bernard a base salary of $1.075 million with a $137,000 signing bonus. The contract will also cost $987,500 against the Bucsโ€™ cap.

Falcons

  • The Athleticโ€™s Mike Sando had an NFL general manager project the top 10 picks and he believes Atlanta will take Ohio State QB Justin Fields to sit behind Matt Ryan for a season or two: โ€œIf you told me Fields was going to be better than Trevor Lawrence in five years, I would say yes, that can happen.โ€
  • Other executives were split, noting the teamโ€™s financial commitment to Ryan. One said the Falcons โ€œcould do anythingโ€ with the pick, including trading down to amass more selections or sitting tight and taking Florida TE Kyle Pitts.  
  • The Falcons had QBs coach Charles London, WRs coach Dave Brock on-hand at Ohio State for Fieldsโ€™ second pro day on Wednesday. (Albert Breer)
  • Breer notes that Falcons GM Terry Fontenot, HC Arthur Smith and OC Dave Ragone attended Fieldsโ€™ first pro day earlier this month. 
  • The Falcons also had assistant director of college scouting Dwaune Jones in attendance of Ohio Stateโ€™s Wednesdayโ€™s pro day. (Albert Breer)

Panthers

Panthers HC Matt Rhule said that new QB Sam Darnoldโ€˜s age is a big reason as to why the team traded for him.

โ€œWith the way quarterback drafts are going right now โ€ฆ thereโ€™s a lot of guys coming out early, and so that first couple years in the NFL are like their junior, senior year of college,โ€ Rhule said, via NFL.com. โ€œItโ€™s not like 10, 15 years ago, guys like Peyton Manning, who played a ton of football. Some of the guys that are coming out, theyโ€™ve been in the NFL for two, three years and theyโ€™re 22, 23. Some other guys coming out right now are 20, 21.

โ€œI just think with Sam, heโ€™s a young guy who came out early, and the football that heโ€™s played up until now is kind of like his junior and senior year, except it happened at the National Football League level. Weโ€™re not getting a guy whoโ€™s 27, 28, not that thereโ€™s anything wrong with that. But we have a guy thatโ€™s still young, still has a lot of football left in him. If things work out the way we hope they work out, we have a young player who can hopefully be with us for a while.โ€

Rhule also said that Darnoldโ€™s natural throwing ability flashes on tape and enticed the team about the quarterback.

โ€œI donโ€™t think thereโ€™s a game that you watch where he doesnโ€™t make a play that makes you say โ€˜There it is,'โ€ Rhule said. โ€œI think his arm talent and his movement are a great fit for the players that we have here that heโ€™ll be playing with.โ€

As for being the new Panthersโ€™ quarterback, Darnold said that he is excited for a fresh start after an offseason full of trade rumors.

โ€œYou go from being unwanted, and then all of a sudden the people in Carolina wanted me and obviously traded for me, and you go from being unwanted to wanted,โ€ Darnold said. โ€œWhen the trade went down, obviously like I said, things didnโ€™t work out the way I wanted to in New York, but I was just so excited for a fresh start and a new opportunity. It was bittersweet, but meeting the people around here and getting to know everyone, what the agenda is around here, Iโ€™m just very thrilled and excited to get going.โ€

โ€œFor me personally, I believed I could make it work in New York. Now that the trade has happened, obviously that frame of thinking doesnโ€™t do me any good anymore. Iโ€™m ready to start here at Carolina and hit the ground running.โ€

  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap points out that the Panthers have the fifth-most workout bonuses in the NFL with potentially $1.9 million in commitments. A number of teams have announced that they donโ€™t plan to attend the voluntary workouts next month, even though some players have these bonuses in their contracts. 
  • Panthers OC Joe Brady and QBs coach Sean Ryan were in attendance of Ohio State QB Justin Fieldsโ€™ second pro day on Wednesday. (Albert Breer)
  • Breer adds that Rhule, GM Scott Fitterer and director of pro personnel Pat Stewart attended Fieldsโ€™ first pro day earlier this month. (Albert Breer)

Saints

Saints TE Adam Trautman had a steeper jump than most coming to the NFL, as he was Daytonโ€™s first player selected since 1977. Trautman saw his snaps increase steadily as the year progressed and now he enters 2021 as the clear-cut No. 1 tight end on New Orleansโ€™ depth chart. Trautman credits his improvement as a blocker for that, as he was PFFโ€™s top-rated run-blocking tight end last year. 

โ€œYou know, they kind of eased me into it. And I as I [got] more comfortable, and [played] better, my big thing was to gain their trust so that they feel comfortable with me out there,โ€ Trautman said via ESPNโ€™s Mike Triplett. โ€œYou could sit behind a computer in the offseason and learn virtually and learn from the playbook, look at it all you want. But getting used to how we game-plan, what they expect from me in the game plan โ€ฆ and reps for me more than anything.โ€

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