NFC Notes: Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Panthers

• NBC Sports’ Peter King notes it was mandatory for the Bears that Panthers WR D.J. Moore be included in the trade for the No. 1 pick. 
• King adds he doesn’t think the Panthers have zeroed in on any one quarterback for the pick yet. He’s also heard Panthers HC Frank Reich is a big fan of Florida QB Anthony Richardson.
• King writes Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud is the other prospect getting a lot of buzz for Carolina’s pick, as there are questions about Alabama QB Bryce Young‘s height. King thinks those are fair but notes he wouldn’t completely rule out Young yet. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes the Panthers did homework on moving up to either No. 3 with the Cardinals or No. 5 with the Seahawks. But the concern was that No. 5 wouldn’t be high enough, and Arizona’s asking price for No. 3 was close enough that Carolina figured it would just go all the way to No. 1. 
• As for the Bears, they had talks with a couple of other teams but they went faster with Carolina than they did elsewhere. 
• Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer reports that the Panthers are planning on using Shy Tuttle as their starting nose tackle, but will also use them in several other spots in their system.

Saints

Saints VP of football administration Khai Harley explained his role with the team, which includes managing the salary cap and player contracts.

“The main crux of my job is managing the cap, is negotiating player contracts. It’s also somewhat like being a compliance offer, there’s a rule for practically everything we do,” Harley said, via Saints Wire.

Harley sees the salary cap as a challenge that needs to be overcome and won’t let the team’s future goals be hindered because of it.

“Everyone looks at the salary cap in sort of this illusionary sort of way, and yet I look at it as more of an accounting mechanism. So my accounting background with these gap principles that you use in accounting, and you have the CBA that guides salary cap construction, or contract construction.”

Saints GM Mickey Loomis wants to eventually get back to conventional spending and quit kicking the can down the road when it comes to the cap. Harley added the team has to weigh the pros and cons of making any moves.

“Can we make it work? So, that’s the difference between probabilities and possibilities,” Harley added. “It’s possible we can make it work. Should we, that’s a different story, that’s a different question. All things that we discuss internally when we paint the picture of ‘Here’s where we’re at, here’s what we can fit in.’ If everybody likes this particular player, and we want to get this particular player, okay, ‘Here’s how we can make it work, and here’s the consequence of that.‘”