NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

In an agent survey by the Athletic’s Ben Standig, a plurality of the people polled identified the Buccaneers as having the best offseason after signing QB Tom Brady.

“Think of where the historic arrow was pointing for the franchise,” one agent said. “They’ve been one of the worst teams in the history of the NFL. Now with Brady, there are whole communities rallied around them. Of course, Rob Gronkowski signed with them, and they have good receivers. So you put that high-powered offense, and without the Winston interceptions, that should be dynamite. The bottom line is their tickets are sold out, their merchandise is selling and they’re getting prime-time games. In that one move, they completely changed their history. And I don’t think I can remember one player ever switching teams and boosting a team’s business side so much.”

• ESPN’s Jenna Laine lists Buccaneers CB M.J. Stewart as a veteran player in danger of being cut this preseason. 
• Buccaneers EDGE Shaq Barrett said he signed his tender Tuesday after not making much more progress toward a long-term deal before Wednesday’s deadline. (Andrew Siciliano)

Falcons

• ESPN’s Vaughn McClure lists Falcons OL Jamon Brown as a veteran player in danger of being cut this preseason. 
• In a roundtable discussion with other NFL players, Falcons RB Todd Gurley said he’s exceptionally motivated to prove himself in 2020 and has put his wealth of time during the pandemic to good use: “I’m not even going to lie, I haven’t worked out this much in my life. I mean, it literally hasn’t been nothing to do but to work out.”

Saints

The Saints dealt a future first-round pick to move up for DE Marcus Davenport because they saw the potential to add an elite pass rusher. Near the end of last season, Davenport was starting to reach that potential before a foot injury shuttered his season. He finished his second season with six sacks and the Saints believe Davenport is poised to top that number in 2020. 

“I think that he made a big step last season,” said Saints DL coach Ryan Nielsen via the Athletic’s Katherine Terrell. “There’s some games where he was playing lights out. I really feel good about a few games where he took the next step. Talking to him, I think his confidence is better this offseason. He’s working hard and I know he had a couple of injuries, but he’s put the work in. Every time I talk to him, he’s saying all the right things, he’s doing the right things.

“So look, it’s year three. Yep, we expect more from him, as we do with everybody else. So I’m excited to start working with Marcus, but there is some growth and there’s some things that we’ve just got to do a little bit better and we’ll work on that.”

• Terrell adds this is a key season for Saints DT Sheldon Rankins, who is playing out his fifth-year option after battling injuries the past two seasons. 
• ESPN’s Mike Triplett lists Saints CB Patrick Robinson as a veteran player in danger of being cut this preseason.