NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler thinks there’s a good chance the Buccaneers will be able to bring back DT Ndamukong Suh for another season.
• Buccaneers RB Leonard Fournette‘s three-year, $21 million contract with the team has a cap number of $3.91 million in 2022 with a base salary of $2 million, a $4.5 million signing bonus, and $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses. His base salary will increase to $6.5 million in 2023 and 2024. (Greg Auman)
• Buccaneers GM Jason Licht continues to field questions about the return of QB Tom Brady: “It’s been an awesome two years, and now hopefully it’s an awesome three-plus years, if not more than three, with him.” (Auman)

Falcons

Falcons HC Arthur Smith and GM Terry Fontenot are not willing to say that the team is in rebuild mode even after trading away QB Matt Ryan who was the face of the franchise for the last 14 seasons.

“I don’t know what coach is going to coach a team and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re rebuilding,'” Smith said, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN. “I understand where we’re at — we’re in transition. And there are certain elements, you are, you’re constantly rebuilding in the NFL. Your roster changes year to year so much.”

Fontenot was willing to go in-depth with the media about trading Ryan to the Colts, despite not having a clear-cut replacement on the roster.

“It’s more of a team philosophy in the players that we have here competing every day and the coaches. So I understand you’re talking about the big-picture, and I’m not dismissing that. But I’m just talking about your charge when you’re in the National Football League: Our objective is to win football games. We could have had a drawn-out process and shopped him and gone through this and traded him somewhere he didn’t want to be,” Fontenot said. “But we talked about it. We said if we’re going to go down this road, we want to do right by Matt. And he has to be involved in it.”

The team has signed QB Marcus Mariota, who is currently expected to be the starter. Smith has experience working with Mariota from their time spent with the Titans at the start of Mariota’s career.

“There’s been a lot of growth from him and myself,” Smith said. “I mean, ironically, [Mariota and Tannehill] are completely different players, but Ryan Tannehill was in this situation when he got there. So Marcus is a high-end talent, just like Ryan was, he was a first-round pick and he’s in a different spot in his career. I trust Marcus, and Marcus, he’s going to come in here and he’s going to give us everything he’s got. He’s got a high-end talent, and he understands what’s happened in the past. He’s learned from them, I’ve learned from them and you feel excited about the opportunity. Our charge is not to be stuck in this kind of limbo area. We’re going to build this thing the right way. And we’re going to be competitive this year. That’s our charge, as a team, as a coach, nobody’s sitting there saying rebuild.”

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says Deshaun Watson was corresponding with guys like RB Leonard Fournette and WR Jarvis Landry about playing together with the Falcons on Thursday. Then the Browns swooped in. 
• Fontenot was unwilling to discuss details about the potential Watson trade: “There was never a time that we felt that we were going to have that player here. We’re not going to get into the details of that part of it.” (Andrew Siciliano)
• Fontenot was noncommittal when asked if the team would be drafting a quarterback, but would say the team would be adding players to the room: “If we feel great about a quarterback at whatever pick, we’re going to take a quarterback. But we’re not going to reach.” (Rothstein)
• Fontenot on getting a third-round pick from the Colts in a trade for Ryan: “It was more important for us to do right by Matt than to try to maximize compensation. Yes, we probably could have opened it up and talked to every team and … gotten more compensation.” (Mike Garafolo)
• Fontenot was willing to talk about details surrounding Ryan’s trade: “It was very amicable, and we feel like it was a win for both sides, for us long-term and Matt right now. He’s earned the right to be involved so he was. Arthur was great at communicating with him on a daily basis. It was more important for us to let Matt be involved and get Matt where he wanted to be rather than maximize the value.” (Josh Kendall)
• Smith continued to give an outlook on what Mariota could potentially provide Atlanta as a starter: “He was a starter. Won a playoff game in the 2017 season. He’s at a different point in his career. We’re excited to work together again. He’s excited to get to Atlanta to prove himself.” (D.Orlando Ledbetter)
• Fontenot and Smith will now head to the Pro Day of Ole Miss QB Matt Corral before attending QB Desmond Ridder‘s Pro Day in Ohio on Thursday. (Ledbetter)
• Fontenot was asked about WR Calvin Ridley and gave the following response: “We have been transparent with everything. Right now with Calvin, he’s on our roster. We’ll see what happens (in the future).” (Tori McElhaney)

Saints

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes the Saints will explore their options at left tackle but the fallback plan is James Hurst, who signed a two-year deal last year. 
• Nick Underhill reports that the Saints have been meeting with free-agent receivers and are looking to add to their group.
• ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Saints QB Jameis Winston, who tore his ACL on October 31st, is expected to be ready for training camp this summer “if everything continues to go smoothly with his rehab.”
• The Colts had a visit planned with Winston on Monday until they traded for Matt Ryan and he decided to remain with the Saints. (Underhill)
• Texas A&M TE Jalen Wydermyer met with the Browns and Saints before his Pro Day. (Aaron Wilson)