NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

• ESPN’s Field Yates reports Buccaneers undrafted QB Reid Sinnet received one of the largest guarantees in his contract, which included $152,800 guaranteed and a $10,000 signing bonus

Falcons

It didn’t take long after the Rams released RB Todd Gurley for the runner to land with the Falcons, returning to the state of Georgia where he played college ball. A combination of Gurley’s health and salary prompted his release from Los Angeles, which was still stunning even if not surprising after Gurley set several career-lows in 2019. Atlanta felt comfortable enough with Gurley to sign him to a deal without a physical but OC Dirk Koetter revealed the team doesn’t even know how healthy Gurley is. 

“The main question, that no one seems to know, is what is his health status, what’s his workload,” Koetter said via ESPN’s Vaughn McClure. “He averaged about 17 touches a game last year, which is a little bit lower than he had been when he was All-Pro. We’re just gonna have to find that out once we get here and get him working.”

• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says those close to Gurley say the running back is “fine,” has minimal pain and is doing as well as possible could be after last year. 
• Ultimately Gurley’s health will dictate a lot of his usage in Atlanta, per Koetter: “He’s can still do it. It’s just a matter of how often he can do it.” (D. Orlando Ledbetter)
• Koetter pointed out that conceptually the Falcons run game has a lot of similarities to the Rams, so that will help Gurley transition. (Kelsey Conway)

Saints

• The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell thinks it’s unlikely the Saints and CB Eli Apple reunite. New Orleans thought Apple was inconsistent enough that it traded for Janoris Jenkins, while Apple didn’t appreciate being replaced. 
• Terrell believes Erik McCoy will slide from center to guard to replace Larry Warford. 
• She also doesn’t see the Saints making S Marcus Williams a high priority to re-sign at the end of the season based on his first three years. 
• Terrell mentioned part of the reason the Saints never promoted WR Emmanuel Butler from the practice squad to the active roster is they didn’t want to lose him off waivers for just one game. 
• New Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders said he’s received his playbook and has been working with their coaching staff on learning the “nuances” of their system. (Nick Underhill)
• Sanders added that he feels comfortable with the Saints’ offensive concepts and is looking forward to developing chemistry with Drew Brees. 
• Saints executive Jeff Ireland said the team had “pretty strong intel” the Chiefs and Dolphins were eyeing C Cesar Ruiz, so they stayed put and picked him instead of trading back. (Underhill)
• The Chiefs were also interested in Saints G Andrus Peat before he re-signed with New Orleans. (Underhill)
• Saints undrafted LB Joe Bachie received one of the largest guarantees in his contract, which included $160,000 guaranteed and a $15,000 signing bonus. (Field Yates)