Buccaneers

Following a rough end to the season where the Buccaneers weren’t able to close out the divisional race, there have been rumblings about whether Tampa Bay could move on from HC Todd Bowles. After his third season as head coach concluded, Bowles believes he deserves to continue coaching this team because of the success he’s had to this point. 

“All I can do is coach and be myself. I’ve earned the chance,” Bowles said, via Nick Shook of NFL.com. “I’ve won three straight division titles. So that says a lot as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really have a message for fans. Other than true fans are true fans and we’re going to try our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel how they feel. That’s not a coach’s problem. A coach’s problem is to make the team better.”

Bowles specializes on the defensive side of the ball and admitted they need to make tangible changes on that side of the ball in 2026. 

“We need to make some changes. Whether it’s schematically or whether it’s physically, we probably need to make some changes going forward. We’ll evaluate that in the next coming days, seeing exactly what needs to be changed. Schematically, I know I need to make some changes depending on the players that we have coming back. Coaching wise, we need to make some changes as a whole as far as what we’re doing on the field and how we’re teaching guys certain things. Certain guys are probably good at certain things that we need to expose more of their good side as opposed to things that they’re struggling with.”

• Bowles, when asked about OC Josh Grizzard returning: “That’s part of the evaluation process … the first year, he learned a lot. He learned a lot of things. We had a lot of injuries, but he learned a lot of things week to week, and things that he can take with him and learn from, and we’ll evaluate it from there.” (Auman)

Falcons

Falcons QB Kirk Cousins was asked if he would be back with the team next season. While unsure of his future, he reiterated that he wants to keep playing.

“Hard to know. Hard to know,” Cousins said, via PFT. “I would like to keep playing, but we’ll see how things play out in March or even after that…I would love to be back here. We’ll see how things play out. At this point, just see how it goes.”

• Tom Pelissero reports that Matt Ryan would not continue working at CBS if he’s hired by the team’s front office, and already lives in the Atlanta area with a focus on rebuilding the team.

Saints

Saints DE Cam Jordan said it was a bittersweet ending to the season, knowing that the locker room and the relationships they’ve built with each other will be broken up.

“This time eight months from now, the locker room will have to start over. You don’t know the interchange of pieces,” Jordan said, via ESPN. “Cam Jordan’s in Year 15, Demario Davis is in Year 14. You got guys looking for new contracts. You got to pay Chris Olave wide receiver 1 money for everything that he does. You’ve got to figure out a way to make it all shape. And I think for whatever reason, the locker room won’t be the same. But hopefully the core guys, the guys that want to be here will be here.”

Saints TE Taysom Hill was emotional and gave his love to the city and organization for embracing him over the past decade.

“I have so much love for the city of New Orleans and this fan base and the way that they’ve embraced me and my family. It’s been really special. So I wouldn’t want to play somewhere else, but there’s a lot of circumstances that are out of your control too, right?” he said.

Jordan added that he’s still contemplating whether or not he will play next season and said that he needs to speak with his family about his future.

“I’m more than willing. I think my play says I’m elite,” Jordan said, before saying he would first talk with his wife, Nikki, before making the ultimate decision. “I said get me through [Year] 15 and we’ll see where it takes us. So I’ll defer to her and after that it’ll just be if numbers make sense.”

Saints LB Demario Davis added that he’s also in “wait-and-see” mode but would like to continue playing in New Orleans.

“I think I don’t have to speak about what this organization means to me, but at the same time, I don’t have so much say-so in where my journey goes, as a servant of the man above, I go where I’m sent and I certainly don’t close a book before it’s supposed to be closed, but when new chapters happen, I have to be open to go,” Davis said. “Yeah, I love it here, but at the same time, I never can project what’s going to happen next.“