NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Former Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians said he was upset to see Byron Leftwich get fired from Tampa Bay but trusts HC Todd Bowles‘ decision-making. 

“It was hard. It was very hard for me. But it’s Todd’s football team,” Arians said, via The Rich Eisen Show. “I handed it to Todd for a reason. He’s got to build it in his image. There’s no hard feelings between the two guys. Their philosophies just didn’t match. I’ve got all the trust in the world in Todd Bowles. I feel terrible for Byron; I still think Byron will be a head coach soon, and he should be.”

Panthers

Regarding Panthers owner David Tepper recently saying there isn’t a salary cap on coaching hires, new HC Frank Reich had high praise of the owner for helping them put together a strong coaching staff. 

“He never flinched on that (no salary cap) statement. He’s been around the block a few times, in a few ways. That doesn’t mean it’s open checkbook. That just means we’re willing to do what it takes to get the right coaches and put the right team together,” Reich said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “It was a good checks and balance, but he backed up what he said, I can tell you that. And we were able to compete against other teams who were vying for similar candidates, where we came out on top because of that backing.”

Reich said Tepper’s involvement was never intrusive to their operations. 

“Mr. Tepper’s involvement was not intrusive, but was strong in the right way,” Reich said. “That’s been a pretty cool experience.”

Reich said he’s discussed everything about building their coaching staff with Tepper. 

“(Tepper) has been involved in everything from Day 1. ‘Have you thought about this guy?’” Reich said. “What I’ve loved about how Mr. Tepper has approached it — whether it was a guy who he might have mentioned or a guy he didn’t mention — he’s doing his own vetting. And then we’re talking about it, and so is Scott. When I tell you it was dynamic and when there were many conversations, it was a lot. We were on the phone multiple times a day, every day, talking about every position and every hire.”

• The Panthers restructured the deal of G Austin Corbett by converting $6.72 million of salary and a $1 million roster bonus into a signing bonus in order to clear $5.79 million of cap space. (Spotrac)

Saints

• According to Tom Pelissero, Saints K Wil Lutz accepted a $1.5 million pay cut and is due $2.2 million in 2023, including a $500,000 signing bonus. He will also have a chance to earn back $750,000 in incentives.