Falcons

Kevin Stefanski approaches his first season as the Falcons’ head coach with competition at quarterback between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. Stefanski said he is trying to take lessons he learned from his time with the Browns, where they recently split time at quarterback between Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Joe Flacco. 

“Well, I think you take lessons from everything you’re doing, but certainly as it relates to competitions at every position, putting around a structure where you can allow guys to display what they can do,” Stefanski said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “I think that’s important for us as coaches to put together a practice plan, a structure of how you handle the offseason to make sure that everybody is competing and then we can make those decisions.”

Stefanski is being sure to keep the players’ best interests in mind and wants to avoid making players feel like outcasts. 

“I mean, these are human beings,” Stefanski said. “I want all of our guys to feel that we have their best interest in mind, because we do. I’ve said this many, many times: We play the greatest team game there is, but these are also individuals and as important as the collective is, I don’t want to ever ignore each person. And so, we’ll constantly be working with our players to understand our players, to earn their trust. And then the game and in between the white lines takes care of itself.”

As for Penix’s recovery from a knee injury, Stefanski said that it is the quarterback’s primary focus, and they won’t rush him back. 

“His No. 1 job right now is to get healthy,” Stefanski said. “And he’s doing a great job at it. He is rehabbing like crazy. He’s in the building all the time. So, I’m excited for what that looks like when he’s healthy. But we’re not going to rush him. He’s not going to rush himself. We’ll make sure that we follow all the appropriate protocols, if you will, from a medical standpoint. And when he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Dave Canales said that heading into the off-season, the team has shifted their focus to solidifying the quarterback position and is focused on how to build around QB Bryce Young.

“It was similar at the combine,” Canales said, via The Athletic. “And what I realized is that all of us, we can sense a commitment to Bryce being our quarterback. We’re changing things in our offense to fit Bryce, and we’re trying to bring players that will complement what Bryce does. It was something that Dan and I had talked about throughout really the last two years — Bryce’s ability to perform in critical situations and in high-stakes situations. And feeling our responsibility to build a team that puts itself in those high-stakes moments where he can perform and come through. And he’s shown that, whether it’s my ability to be aggressive, going for it on fourth down because of him or having different moments come alive late in games for him to be able to take us down on drives, find wins, whatever that looked like. There’s not a question of if, but how — how are we gonna build this forward knowing that Bryce is our quarterback?”

Canales added that the next step in Young’s development is being able to master the offense and being able to have more control pre-snap.

“A big part of it is being able to operate at the line of scrimmage — not in the huddle — when we want to, and he’s certainly capable of that,” Canales explained. “It’s not solely on him. It’s a group that’s pretty young. You have to trust all the guys to go up there, communicate verbally or nonverbally and execute what we’re doing. We’ve made huge strides in that regard. His ability to alter things based on what they’re giving you will give us another edge, which he’s continued to grow and had some great examples down the stretch where he identified things they were doing, got us to the right check and capitalized on some plays. Want to see him do that more when it’s appropriate. We don’t need to be changing things just to change it. And then for Bryce, it’s the identification of early on the cues that the defense are giving us, to be able to eliminate parts of your progression before the ball’s even snapped. That happens with time. I’ve seen quarterbacks really own and master, which allows them to play lightning fast.”

Canales said that hiring Darrell Bevell, who has extensive experience as a playcaller, can help OC Brad Idzik maintain the offense in his first full year as a playcaller.

“With this role that I’m taking, with Brad taking over the play calling, I have three years of play-calling experience. Bev’s got a lot more,” Canales explained. “What I really want is for Brad to have a great support — not just from me, but from somebody else whose sole purpose here is to help our offense, to help Brad. And to have those eyes on everybody on the offensive side and all of our schemes. I want my offenses from a balanced run-pass to fit the best of what Darrell brought to us in Seattle and also the best of what he’s learned in the meantime being in a couple different spots in Detroit, Jacksonville and Miami the last couple of years. To be able to bring all the experiences that he’s had, that I’ve had while we’ve been apart for all these years, to compare those notes and to give us a great chance to have success.”

Saints

The Saints lost LB Demario Davis as a free agent this offseason after he signed a two-year deal with the Jets. Davis reflected on entering his third stint in New York, saying he’s now stepping in as a veteran leader. 

“This wasn’t a happenstance situation,” Davis said, via Matthew Paras of NOLA.com. “This was a choice, knowing who I am and what I am called to be. I know what I’m stepping into this time around. I know what I’m bringing into a locker room. I know I play the game at an elite level. I know every year I’m trying to play better than the prior year.”

• Regarding veteran free agent DE Cam Jordan, Paras writes that the Saints are comfortable waiting things out and would be open to bringing back Jordan even if they draft an edge rusher. 
• Paras mentions that money is not believed to be holding up a deal for Jordan, but it’s instead related to his potential role. Should New Orleans take Miami DE Rueben Bain, for example, it would reduce Jordan to being its fourth edge rusher on the depth chart. 
• In the end, Paras thinks New Orleans is allowing Jordan to determine if returning is still the best choice for him. 
• As for WR Chris Olave‘s looming extension, Paras writes that the two sides appear to disagree on his price tag. 
• Paras points out that Olave’s concussion history could be complicating negotiations. 
• Regardless of whether New Orleans can finalize an extension for Olave, Paras says the team would still like to add another receiver. 
• Beyond receiver and defensive end, Paras could see the Saints bringing in another cornerback, an interior offensive lineman, and a run-stuffing defensive lineman. He also wouldn’t be surprised to see them add competition at kicker for Charlie Smyth.
• According to Paras, the Saints plan on re-signing fourth-string QB Hunter Dekkers once his UFL season concludes.