NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Panthers, Derek Carr, Saints

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles wanted new ideas out of his coaching staff. He believes OC Dave Canales will bring a different perspective to their offense.

“I heard a lot from a lot of other coaches,” Bowles said via the Tampa Bay Times. “I heard (Canales) interviewed a couple times at Baltimore and did a good job there. Once I started talking to him, the more interested I got. Great personality. Very positive coach. Highly intelligent. He can play a bunch of different schemes.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht has the utmost respect for former OC Byron Leftwich, but believed Canales could breathe fresh life into their offense.

“There was a lot of traits that we were looking for. And I think Byron was a heck of a coordinator,” Licht said. “So anything I say, I don’t want it to be anything derogatory toward Byron. It’s just a fresh start. and we like what Dave brought to the table.”

• According to Justin Melo, Purdue TE Payne Durham had formal interviews with the Broncos and Buccaneers at the Combine and will soon meet with the Bears, Bills, Cowboys, and Rams.

Panthers

Adam Schefter believes that Panthers owner David Tepper likes Alabama QB Bryce Young and could take him with the first overall pick in the draft.

”And I said, ‘There’s a belief that David Tepper loves Bryce Young, Frank Reich likes C.J. Stroud.’ And they said, ‘We love all these quarterbacks and we’ve got 48 days to make a decision on which one we will be taking.’” Schefter noted. “But, clearly, they felt comfortable in giving up the compensation that they did to move up eight slots to procure the No. 1 overall draft pick ahead of the other teams that were interested in getting that particular pick.”

Meanwhile, Joe Person of The Athletic reported that league insiders think the pick will be Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud, whom Schefter mentioned was well-liked by new HC Frank Reich.

“The party line from the team will be that [Frank] Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer will use the next seven weeks to evaluate which of the big four quarterbacks they want: C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis or Anthony Richardson.” Person said. “But league insiders believe it will be Stroud, who’s bigger than Young, more accurate than Richardson and more of a playmaker than Levis. Stroud put on a show of precision passing at the combine last week, and proved against Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals that he’s not afraid to leave the pocket when necessary. The Panthers passed on another Ohio State quarterback two years ago, taking Jaycee Horn at No. 8 when Fields was available.”

• Scott Fowler reports that the Panthers are not discounting a trade back to the No.2 overall pick, with one source telling Fowler: “We control it now.”
• Reich on now having the first overall pick: “Excited about this group of young QBs. We think they all have strengths that make them unique and worthy of the pick … We have a little over a month to confirm which is the right one for our team.” (Albert Breer)

Saints

David Carr said that Saints veterans Tyrann Mathieu and Michael Thomas helped recruit his brother, Derek Carr, to New Orleans.

“When you look at it from the Saints’ standpoint, they’re some young guys but there’s also a lot of veterans guys on the defensive side. There’s a lot of veteran coaches there. A lot of guys that are grizzled veterans that understand how to make it work,” Carr said, via Saints Wire. “Derek has relationships with a lot of those guys too, that go far beyond just this offseason. With Tyrann Mathieu he’s known him forever, you know a lot of these guys. Michael Thomas, they go way back, and they have history. So when Derek became available, they were like ‘No, you’re coming here.’”

• Carr on being yet another Saints QB since the retirement of QB Drew Brees: “I’m not coming here trying to be Drew Brees. That man is a Hall of Fame quarterback. I’m coming here to be Derek Carr.” (Katherine Terrell)
• Carr on his departure from the Raiders: “I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t have a chip on my shoulder with how everything finished. … it lit a fire in me that I’ve always had, but it just made it hotter.” (Terrell)