NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

• Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times believes that choosing a quarterback during the second day of the draft would make sense for the Bucs and proposes Jordan Love, Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, and Jalen Hurts as possible selections.
• According to Jason La Canfora, if the Bucs can’t get a strong sense that Philip Rivers will sign with them, they could elect to use their transition tag on Jameis Winston, assuming they’re able to use both tags.
• La Canfora mentions that he doesn’t see a clear and obvious path for Tampa Bay to upgrade from Winston.

Falcons

• D. Orlando Ledbetter reports that the Falcons do not plan to re-sign S Kemal Ishmael this offseason.
• The Falcons have met with Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Javon Kinlaw at the Combine. (William McFadden)

Saints

Saints GM Mickey Loomis was asked on SiriusXM NFL Radio if the Saints wanted to sign QB Drew Brees before the start of free agency.

“Look, that would be our goal because then you just have clarity going into the beginning of free agency, exactly what you have available and the structure of what you have,” said Loomis about getting the deal with Brees done. “Is it mandatory? Probably not mandatory that we have that done, but it certainly will be a goal of ours.”

Brees will account for $15.9 million of the Saints’ cap in 2020, due to past restructures and prorated pay. Re-signing QB Taysom Hill could require New Orleans to place a tender on him at the first- or second-round level, worth $4.7 million or $3.3 million, respectively. Loomis said he was unsure about what to do regarding Hill this offseason.

“We’ll figure out something. He’s unique when you look around the league, so we’re going to have to look at it in that way. I don’t have an answer for you right now,” Loomis said of Hill. “But I do know this: We love Taysom, love what he’s done for us. He’s got a bright future. We have a vision for him and I think he feels the same way. I think he feels strongly about his experience in New Orleans and would love to be back with us. That’s 90 percent of the battle.”