NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

It didn’t take long for Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston to impress HC Bruce Arians. 

“It’s amazing. I mean, he was getting the third and fourth reads quickly today,” Arians said via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He was off his first read, and that was not the easiest secondary to read. There was a lot of movement from quarters, to single high to man. I was extremely pleased with that part of it. I don’t think the defense got their hands on any of his (passes). That last throw, that was the fifth read in that play and he was on it so fast and he could tell me why. It’s one thing to throw a completion, but tell me why you did it. That’s nice.”

Arians said it would take an offer with “hellacious picks” for the Buccaneers to move down. 

“There’s five guys on the board I love. You’d have to throw the bank and open the vault for [G.M.] Jason [Licht] to move down,” Arians said via Stroud. “I’m not saying that we wouldn’t. Just looking at the guys that are there. There’s really six guys that are once-in-a-generation-type players. I feel great about this draft.”

Falcons

• Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports that the Falcons could be a candidate to trade up from No. 14 overall, while Atlanta has been “nosing around” offensive and defensive linemen ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft. 
• Jason La Canfora could see the Falcons moving up from No. 14 overall with the Lions at No. 8 to draft Clemson DE Christian Wilkins.
• Per ESPN’s Vaughn McClure, Falcon’s DT Ra’Shede Hageman‘s deal includes a base salary of $720,000.

Panthers

• According to the Charlotte Observer’s Jourdan Rodrigue, her top three candidates for the Panthers’ first-round pick at No. 16 are Florida State DE Brian Burns, Oklahoma OL Cody Ford or Clemson DT Christian Wilkins.