NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston admitted that it’s still a dream of his to pitch in MLB. 

“It is one of my dreams,” Winston told Peter King of NBCSports.com, via JoeBucsFan.com. “It is something I would definitely look forward to.”

Falcons

Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff mentioned that they believe Julio Jones deserves to be the “highest-paid receiver in the league.”

“We know what Julio is in this league,” Dimitroff told NFL Media on Thursday night before the Hall of Fame Game, via NFL.com. “We have a very good idea of approximately where he’s going to be, which I won’t share specifically. The good thing is we’ve never been held by our owner to be limiting someone and we’re very good with our football players here. We feel very proud of how we approach it.

“And again, where we approach it with Julio, we look at everything, of course. We believe that he should be the highest-paid player — sorry, I did not say player — the highest-paid receiver in the league. And I know he believes that. It’s just how we’re going to approach this and how we’re going to get it done. I believe it’s right around the corner, but I don’t want know when it is.”

Dimitroff also made it clear that they want Jones to finish out his career in Atlanta. 

“We want Julio here for the rest of his career, whatever that is,” Dimitroff said. “I know you were going to ask me, ‘Where are you?’ We’re still working on it. I’m not worried about it. We’re not concerned about it. We have a great working relationship, not only with Julio, but with CAA and with [agent] Jimmy Sexton. We’re communicating well. We’re not worried about the timeframe of it. . . .So there’s not a major rush here.”

Panthers

Part of Panthers owner David Tepper‘s vision when he bought the team included expanding the city of Charlotte’s footprint on the sports landscape, from a potential MLS expansion team to hosting Final Fours and major concerts. To do that, though, he needs a stadium with a roof. And to get that, the man worth $11 billion says he needs help from the state of North Carolina. 

“At some point, I would make a big investment if I could get the state and others on board in a new stadium that would be great for soccer and great for football,” Tepper said via Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal. “The economy’s big enough for a revenue tax, a hotel revenue increase that would go a long way to help pay for a new stadium.”