NFC Notes: Emeka Egbuka, Tyler Shough, Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

Buccaneers GM Jason Licht said that WR Chris Godwin’s rehab had nothing to do with the selection of Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka in the first round, adding that Godwin is on track to be ready for Week 1.

“Chris is still on track; we’re still shooting for Week One with him,” Licht said, via Scott Smith of the team website. “This had nothing really to do with Chris’s injury rehab right now. This had everything to do with [the fact that] he was a player that Todd [Bowles] and I said, at the end of the day, if this guy was here, we were going to take him and we’re going to be happy with it. We felt this was a pick for the future but also for the present. You saw what happened last year. We had some injuries and the coaches did a great job with what we had, but [now we’re] adding another great receiver. Todd has said all along, I think he told you guys back in March that a good offense can help a defense. It’s about scoring points. It’s exciting to add him to the mix. We’ve got J-Mac and him now for the future, but also the present, and still we have an elite room with Chris and Mike.”

• The Buccaneers signed OL Benjamin Chukwuma to a contract worth $300,000. The deal also includes a $245,000 base salary guaranteed and a $55,000 signing bonus. (Aaron Wilson).
• The Buccaneers signed C Jake Majors to a contract worth $260,000 (Wilson).

Falcons

Falcons GM Terry Fontenot addressed a recent report from ESPN that the Falcons want a new team to pick up $20 million of QB Kirk Cousins’s remaining $37.5 million in full guarantees.

“We haven’t put a number on it,” Fontenot told reporters, via Pro Football Talk. “We wouldn’t share specific conversations with what we’re doing, but no, we haven’t — to answer your question — we haven’t put a specific number on it.”

Saints

The Saints opted to draft QB Tyler Shough in the second round, but HC Kellen Moore noted that QB Shedeur Sanders was also in the conversation.

“He was right in those conversations,” Moore said of Sanders, via Pro Football Talk. “These are really tough decisions. He’s a really good player. What he accomplished at Colorado, and when you watch the film, it’s really, really good. I think really highly of him. Ultimately, as you go through it, you’ve got to make a decision. We felt like Tyler was the one for us.”

“We saw it as a positive,” Moore said of Shough’s experience. “He’s been through a lot of football, he’s been exposed to a lot of different settings. And the quarterback position, these guys aren’t reaching their peak for a while. He’s going to continue to rise and grow. . . . There’s challenges as you go through this and those guys who can handle adversity tend to thrive in this league. . . . For him to continue to rebound from those and then play at such a high level this past year, he kind of just built momentum as we went through this whole thing.”