NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

• Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, citing sources with knowledge of the situation, reports that Tom Brady was able to finalize a deal with the Buccaneers “without much if any” negotiating.
• Florio writes that Brady “essentially proposed” the financial terms and other items of demands to the Buccaneers and Chargers, which both teams agreed to.
• Florio mentions that it is also possible that Brady presented his terms to other teams, but it ultimately came down to Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.
• According to Florio, Brady requested payment “in the $30 million range” over the next two years but did not make any “grandiose requests” like personnel authority and control over the offenses’ development and implementation.
• In the end, Florio writes that Brady ultimately chose the Buccaneers for both business and professional reasons given there is no income tax in Florida while enabling him to stay close to his 12-year old son on the East Coast.
• Tampa Bay also places Brady and his family closer to frequent destinations like Miami, Costa Rica, and South America. 
• NFL Media’s Mike Silver discussed the potential of Brady landing with the Buccaneers at the Combine with HC Bruce Arians and asked him who would have to adapt more, the coach or the quarterback. 
• Arians said he would ask Brady if he wanted to master Tampa Bay’s offense or if he wanted more than 20 players to figure out the scheme he was accustomed to: “We’ll probably meet in the middle.”
• Arians didn’t see his offense, which relies on deep drops and deep throws, as being a bad fit for Brady, and said the two would collaborate to work to Brady’s strengths. He added it didn’t hurt to have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to. 
• Buccaneers’ DE Jason Pierre-Paul‘s two-year, $25 million deal includes base salaries of $6.5 million and $12.5 million. Pierre-Paul’s 2020 base is guaranteed, while $7.5 million of his 2021 base is guaranteed for injury, $5 million is guaranteed for skill-cap and another $2.5 million becomes guaranteed for skill-cap the fifth day of the 2021 league year. (Aaron Wilson)
• Pierre-Paul has a $6 million roster bonus due the third day of the 2020 league year and an annual $1 million incentive for sacks and making the Pro Bowl.

Falcons

• The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz says the Falcons were interested in a trade for RB Todd Gurley before he was ultimately released, but they couldn’t figure out how to make his salary work. Gurley’s health and the difficulty of getting a physical right now also were complicating factors.
• Now that Gurley’s a free agent, though, ESPN’s Vaughn McClure still doesn’t see a deal being able to be worked out. 

Panthers

• According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Panthers currently lead the NFL in dead money with $34.47 million, a number that will go up by $2 million if the team has to release QB Cam Newton.
• Panthers S Tre Boston‘s three-year, $18 million deal includes an $8 million signing bonus, base salaries of $1.16 million, $2.25 million and $3.69 million, a $1 million roster bonus the third day of the 2020 league year, a $1 million roster bonus in 2022 and annual per-game active roster bonuses up to $250,000. (Aaron Wilson)

Saints

• According to the Athletic’s Katherine Terrell, the Saints converted $10 million of WR Michael Thomas‘ base salary into a signing bonus, dropping his 2020 base salary to $1 million. 
• The Saints also cut CB Patrick Robinson‘s base salary down to $1.8 million in 2020 and $2 million in 2021 from $4.8 million and $4.9 million, respectively. (Terrell)
• Saints LT Terron Armstead had about $9.6 million of his 2020 base salary converted into a signing bonus and also appears to have had a voidable year added to his deal. (Terrell)
• Saints DT David Onyemata‘s three-year deal includes a $10 million signing bonus and $18 million total guaranteed. The 2023 year voids five days into the 2022 league year. (Nick Underhill)
• Saints QB Drew Brees will incur a $22.65 million dead money charger next year if he retires after this season. If he plays two more years, his dead money will be just $11.5 million in 2022. (Ben Volin)