NFC Notes: Mike Evans, Michael Thomas, Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

• Dianna Russini mentions that Buccaneers WR Mike Evans has not been offered a new contract yet and that he nor his agent has requested a trade as Evans wants to end his career in Tampa and has no plans of holding out of any games this season.
• Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap points out that the Buccaneers have just $3.2 million left in available cap space. 

Panthers

Panthers OLB Justin Houston believes Carolina will surpass expectations this season.

“I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people,” Houston said, via PFT. “The league is sleeping on us as a whole. I think we got a lot of talent here. So the biggest thing is putting this talent together. A lot of teams have talent, but it’s hard to get everybody on the same page. I think these guys are willing to work and do whatever it takes to be on the same page and I think we’re heading towards the right direction.”

• Panthers DE Marquis Haynes (back) said he’s “day-to-day” but is optimistic about playing in Week 1, per Joseph Person.

Saints

Saints HC Dennis Allen said WR Michael Thomas has been impressive throughout training camp and they’ve always been confident in his abilities. 

“Mike’s looked better and better every time he’s come out here,” Allen said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “We kind of knew that at some point we’d start seeing what we kind of expect out of him, and I think we’re seeing that more and more every day he’s out here.”

Saints QBs coach Ronald Curry recalled Thomas’ recovery from his ankle injury, which required multiple surgeries. 

“He had surgery and then the metal that they put in his leg had a reaction that caused the stress reaction,” Curry said. “Then you’ve got to take that out and redo it. So it’s not like he had this one injury and he was done. He had this one injury, then he had another injury, and he was told, ‘If you rest, it will heal.’ So he rests, and it doesn’t heal, so then people ask why he didn’t have surgery? Well because they told him if he rested it, it would heal. And it didn’t. Everybody reacts a little bit different. He did nothing wrong; his body just didn’t react to the surgeries like it should have.”

Thomas also dealt with a turf toe injury. Fellow WR Tre’Quan Smith was impressed by Thomas also battling back from the injury after also dealing with the same issue in 2022. 

“Mike had a turf toe on 10,” Smith said. “I had turf toe, and that’s nowhere near what Mike had, and it was bothering me so much. … It bugged me all season. Just imagine what Mike went through.”