ESPN NFC South Blog

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Atlanta Falcons

• Falcons safety William Moore took this away from the rookie symposium: "You're here to play football. The game hasn't changed. At the end of the day, it's going to be football but there's going to be a lot of distractions. A lot of life lessons."

Carolina Panthers

• The Panthers picked up rookie tight end Andrew Davie off waivers on Thursday.

New Orleans Saints

• The Saints are optimistic wide receiver Lance Moore will return to form after shoulder surgery.
  
• Former Saints long-snapper Kevin Houser said Thursday he was surprised when he got the call earlier this week saying he was being released.
  

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• The Tampa Tribune's Anwar Richardson lists six players who have something to prove this season.
• Former Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks feels he still can play in the NFL.
  

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Atlanta Falcons

• Matt Ryan avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump will be key for the Falcons.
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley offers his take on ESPN The Magazine's recent rankings.
  

Carolina Panthers

• Undrafted rookie tackle Patrick Brown knows he has his work cut out for him to earn a spot on the roster.
  

New Orleans Saints

• Count Archie Manning, Drew Brees and Sean Payton among those who lost money investing in a motion picture studio.
• Did the Saints add enough to their defense in the offseason to make them contenders?
  

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• GM Mark Dominik says he thinks the Bucs have spent their money wisely in free agency over the past few years.
• USA Today's Scott Zucker says change is the only thing certain for the Buccaneers heading into the 2009 season.
  

New Bucs tight end Kellen Winslow talks about missing OTAs, changing times in Tampa Bay and how the quarterback competition is affecting the offense on ESPN's First Take.

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Atlanta Falcons

• Michael Vick is leaving his construction job to work with kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs.
• Falcons safety Antoine Harris is recovering from surgery.

Carolina Panthers

• Rookie linebackers Mike Juergens and Brit Miller were waived by the team on Tuesday.
• Citing limited off-the-field time, Steve Smith has cut ties with Athletes United For Youth.

New Orleans Saints

• Kevin Houser, who was released on Monday, is part of a group of players trying to get back money invested in a motion picture studio.
  

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• St. Petersburg Times columnist John Romano is "accusing" the Glazers. "Accused of not investing enough in their football team. Accused of not keeping up with the competition. Accused, essentially, of not caring about Buccaneer victories and losses as much as you do."
• Luke McCown is looking forward to his chance to be the Bucs' starting quarterback.

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Atlanta Falcons

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley gives his take on ESPN.com's list of the 25 most underrated players of the decade. Three Falcons made the list . 
• Michael Vick's lawyers are headed back to bankruptcy court in Virginia.
• Former NFL coach Dennis Green thinks Dolphins GM Bill Parcells is "going to find a way" to sign Vick.
• Gainesville Times reporter Brent Holloway has a Q&A with rookie offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds.

Carolina Panthers

• The Panthers' recently-signed fourth round pick, fullback Tony Fiammetta, is concentrating on learning the playbook, writes the Frederick News-Post's Joshua Smith. 
• The Saints have signed free-agent long-snapper Jason Kyle, who spent the last eight years with the Panthers.

New Orleans Saints

• Along with signing Kyle, the Saints released veteran long-snapper Kevin Houser.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• The 2009 Bucs intend to keep the "pedal to the metal," according to the Pewter Report. 

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Atlanta Falcons

• Samuel Lam of examiner.com offers his analysis of the Falcons' 2009 schedule.
• Mike Peterson is looking forward to a fresh start with the Falcons.
• Michael Koenen admitted to having a good time with the kids at his camp this past weekend.

Carolina Panthers

• Carolina veterans say they are eager to see Julius Peppers back in a Panthers uniform.
• The Panthers' strategy when it came to Peppers and the franchise tag played out well -- for the team, anyway.

New Orleans Saints

• Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune says it best: "Officially Tom Benson owns and runs the New Orleans Saints. Unofficially it's Drew Brees' team."
• As long as Brees is in the mix, the only quarterback controversy is for the No. 2 job.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Bucs general manager Mark Dominik insists the goal this year is to let rookie quarterback Josh Freeman learn from the sideline.
  

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Ever since ESPN.com began running our all-decade package this week, readers have been suggesting we come up with an all-decade team for the NFC South.

I think that's a wonderful idea, particularly at the slowest time of the NFL year. Let's all take some time and give this some serious thought. I'm going to ponder this as I take a little down time before training camps start.

When I return the week of July 20, I'll look at what you had to say and compile a consensus all-decade team. Let's do an offense (a standard 11-player set), defense (we're running a 4-3 scheme), kicker, punter, return man and coach.

Let's set a few basic rules (and we'll make some more if problems surface). Let's start with the premise that any player has to have played most of this decade in the NFC South. In other words, even though Tony Gonzalez is the best tight end of the decade and is now with the Atlanta Falcons, he doesn't qualify because he's spent the decade (up to now) with Kansas City.

And let's consider only what's happened from the 2000 season until now. Be fair, be creative, be thorough and have fun with this.

You can start sharing your all-decade teams in the comments section below or you can send it to my mailbag -- or you can do both. Actually, doing both would probably be the best way to make sure I see everyone's team. Again, this won't be running for a few weeks, although I suspect I might start scanning your team's a little early and give you a quick preview of how the results are shaping up before we announce the real team. So take your time and, most of all, enjoy.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

A day after getting franchise player Julius Peppers to sign his tender, the Panthers made a cluster of small moves Friday. They signed running back Mike Goodson and fullback Tony Fiammetta to contracts.

Goodson and Fiammetta each were fourth-round picks in the draft. The Panthers already have signed seventh-round choice Captain Munnerlyn.

The Panthers released two players to make roster space for the signings. Long-snapper Patrick MacDonald and defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo were released.

	Larry French/Getty Images
	Veteran defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, left, looks to have nailed down a starting job with the Bucs and could be poised for a breakout year in Jim Bates' defense.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

TAMPA, Fla. -- In our NFC South chats and mailbags the last few months, we've talked a lot about guys who could be "breakout" players this season. Names such as Robert Meachem, Dwayne Jarrett, Michael Clayton and Harry Douglas commonly have been floated out there as possibilities.

That's what happens when you talk about wide receivers like Meachem, Jarrett and Clayton, who haven't quite played up to their draft status, and guys like Douglas, who teased us with flashes of promise as a rookie.

But let's go away from receivers for a minute. Let's go below the radar and look for a guy who really has a chance to seemingly come out of nowhere and do big things.

How about Tampa Bay defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson?

If you haven't heard of him, you will. I'll go out on a limb and predict Wilkerson will be the one NFC South player who truly breaks out this season. And I'm not saying Meachem, Jarrett, Clayton and Douglas won't have good seasons. I think all four have a chance to step up.

Here's why I think Wilkerson is ready to do more than any of us expect. You might not know it yet, but this guy's already a starter. Yes, he's got precisely six starts in a six-year NFL career. But the fact is, the Bucs have designated Wilkerson as their starting defensive left end.

	David Drapkin/Getty Images
	In a part-time role last season, Jimmy Wilkerson collected 5.0 sacks.

Wilkerson's gone through the entire offseason program and minicamps and gotten just about every rep with the first team.

"It's up to me now to keep that starting job," Wilkerson said. "Someone is going to have to outwork me and outperform me to get that starting job away from me."

That's probably not going to happen. When you've gone this far into an offseason without drafting a rookie or signing a free agent to take this spot, you've shown you're committed to the guy who's there.

Tampa Bay's new coaching staff has done precisely that with Wilkerson. In fact, he's probably viewed a lot more favorably right now than he's been at any point in his career -- which isn't necessarily saying a whole lot, but Wilkerson takes that as a compliment.

"It would be very gratifying if I could go out there and be the full-time starter," Wilkerson said. "I could take a step back and say I defied all the odds of people saying, 'You'll never make it in the NFL' and 'You're too slow and you're too small.' If you just stay consistent and give it your all every day out on the field, the coaches are going to see that and say, 'There's a guy we can count on out there on the field as a starter.'"

That's pretty much what coach Raheem Morris and his staff have said with their actions this offseason. As part of their youth movement, they let veteran Kevin Carter walk. Yeah, Stylez (formerly Greg) White still is around. But Wilkerson was getting all the first-team work before White's recent bicycling accident, which didn't score him many points with the coaching staff.

So why has Wilkerson been such a hit with Morris and new defensive coordinator Jim Bates? Let's let Wilkerson tell it in his own words and, then, we'll expound a bit.

"The thing I learned in six seasons is to keep your mouth shut and keep going out there every day and doing your best,'' Wilkerson said. "If you do that, at the end of the day, things are going to end up working out for you.''

Jimmy Wilkerson #97 DE Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2008 STATS TACK SOLO FF INT SACK 23 22 1 0 5.0

The start of this season could be the proverbial "end of the day" for Wilkerson. After five very unremarkable seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs (Wilkerson came into the league as a sixth-round draft choice out of Oklahoma), he signed as a free agent with the Buccaneers last year. One of the driving forces behind that move was general manager Mark Dominik, who then was the personnel director for Tampa Bay. Dominik's basic selling point to former coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen was that Wilkerson was a guy who had untapped potential and, at worst, would be a dependable backup.

Wilkerson showed signs of being more than that last season in Monte Kiffin's defense. He was used as a backup at defensive end and defensive tackle. He only started one game, but his playing time kept increasing as the season went on. In a part-time role, one in which he often wasn't set up to rush the passer, he produced five sacks and played the run very well.

Put Wilkerson in Bates' defense for a year, let him focus solely at left end and see what you get.

"With Coach Bates, we're more of a rush mentality than a run mentality now," Wilkerson said. "It's rush first."

Give Wilkerson a full year like that and I'll go ahead and project him with double-digit sacks. That definitely would qualify as a breakout year.

Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong. Keep a copy of this and let me know in December.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Just a reminder to anyone who goes by our regular chat schedule that we're not on our regular chat schedule this week. We shifted our NFC South chat to Wednesday and you can read the transcript here.

In our usual 1 p.m. ET time slot Friday, NFC East colleague Matt Mosley will be chatting about our all-decade package that's been running all week. I don't want to tell anybody what to do on another guy's chat, but I've heard a very strong rumor that Mosley didn't think Derrick Brooks belonged on the all-decade defense. There's also a whisper out there that Mose voted for Tom Landry to be coach of the decade. Again, it's all unconfirmed. Take it from there.

The NFC South chat will not take place the next few weeks, but we're scheduled to resume July 24. I'll give you a reminder as it gets closer.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Although the NFC South hasn't been around for a full decade, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been declared the division's team of the decade.

That's according to ESPN.com, which used a formula concocted by NFC West colleague Mike Sando, who works part time as a rocket scientist, as well as a little bit of the human touch. I argued Tampa Bay's Super Bowl title should move them up a few spots higher than their ranking by the formula and Sando agreed.

The Bucs ranked ninth in the league and were the only NFC South team with a winning percentage over .500 for the decade. Carolina ranked No. 13, which seems pretty fair on the surface.

But I'd like to throw out a couple of scenarios that demonstrate just how close Carolina was to cracking the top 10. Let's suppose George Seifert's 1-15 disaster of 2001 never happened. The Bucs have 76 wins this decade. The Panthers have 71. Let's say Seifert's last season was a 6-10 year and the Panthers would have as many wins as the Bucs.

Carolina also came a lot closer to winning in their one Super Bowl appearance than a lot of people remember. If the Panthers had beaten the Patriots in Houston, they probably would be ranked ahead of Tampa Bay.

The Saints ranked No. 19 and the Falcons No. 21, which goes to show the importance of putting together back-to-back winning seasons. That's been nearly impossible for the NFC South teams throughout their existence.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Something happened in Green Bay on Wednesday that I'm sure was followed closely in Atlanta. Packers receiver Greg Jennings signed a big contract extension.

It's a three-year deal reportedly worth $27 million and includes $16 million in guaranteed money. So what's that mean to Atlanta?

A lot. The Falcons have been having some talks with receiver Roddy White about a new deal, but it doesn't sound like anything is close to happening. The Jennings deal sets some new parameters the Falcons and White could work with.

But we're only talking loose parameters. Fact is -- and I'm sure White's agent will make the Falcons aware of this -- White's been more productive than Jennings. White went to the Pro Bowl last season and Jennings was an alternate.

There's one other factor at work here. Although White's contract is scheduled to expire after this season, he can only become a restricted free agent next year. So there's not an extreme urgency for the Falcons to do anything here.

They could play hardball with White and work the system. But I think the Falcons will make an honest effort to get White a new deal before the start of the season. They don't want one of their best players disgruntled and there's no doubt they want to keep White for the long term.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Just a few more thoughts on Julius Peppers finally signing his franchise tender with the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday.

I've already said this move is not a prelude to a trade and Peppers really will be playing for the Panthers this year. But, could this move be a prelude to a long-term contract?

It's at least possible. Under league rules, the Panthers have until July 15 to sign Peppers to a long-term deal. After that, he has to play the season for the franchise tender (almost $17 million). We still think it might be a stretch to see Peppers suddenly grabbing a long-term deal after making noise about wanting out of Carolina.

But a lot of weird things must have happened to get Peppers to sign the tender, so anything is possible. Carolina once offered to make Peppers the highest-paid defensive player in the game. If they do it again, Peppers might not turn it down this time.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

As we've noted repeatedly, Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers is one of those guys who never seems to have a lot to say. He'd been silent since February, when he came out and said he wanted out of Carolina.

Now that Peppers has signed his franchise tender and isn't getting out of Carolina until next year, at the earliest, he finally talked just a little.

Through agent Carl Carey, Peppers issued a statement, which is all of three sentences and isn't particularly enlightening. The real test will come Aug. 2. That's when the Panthers report to training camp and there's no longer a question if Peppers will be joining them.

There likely will be a big group of media members waiting to hear from Peppers. (Note to the travel department in Bristol: Book me a flight to Charlotte and a rental car to Spartanburg, S.C. on Aug. 1).

Just a guess here, but the Panthers have been spinning the story today, saying Peppers is the same guy he's always been. If Peppers truly is the same guy he's always been, I'm guessing it will be four or five days after camp starts before he talks to the media.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

In the end, the Carolina Panthers won.

It's not just because defensive end Julius Peppers is going to have to come to training camp with his tail between his legs after finally signing his franchise tender Wednesday.

	Bob Donnan/US Presswire
	Julius Peppers signed his one-year, $16.7 million tender under the franchise tag Wednesday.

The real reason the Panthers won is because they're keeping a player they wanted to keep all along. A guy they've built their defense around for seven years. A guy who, is no worse than the second-best player in franchise history. (Steve Smith is the only other guy even in the discussion.)

"If you go by actions, and we've known Julius for seven years, Julius has been the same guy for seven years and we really haven't seen any change in that," general manager Marty Hurney said. "He's always been a very competitive person, who's always shown he likes to be a Carolina Panther. That's not a concern at all. He's the same guy.''

Hurney's a big believer in actions speaking louder than words. I share the same philosophy and so do a lot of other people. But you have to at least ask the question about the words Peppers and his agent spoke back in February.

They basically came out and said Peppers wanted out of Carolina, wanted to go to a team with a 3-4 defense and felt he hadn't been able to reach his potential with the Panthers.

If those statements came from another player or agent, you could roll your eyes and say it was all part of a contract negotiation. But Peppers isn't like any other player. He's about the most quiet and private player I've ever encountered. When he says something of that magnitude, you have to assume he meant it.

So what's changed in the months in between?

Maybe nothing. Before you go out and start buying No. 90 Carolina jerseys again, remember that Peppers really had no other choice than to sign the tender. Carey had months to shop him to the rest of the league. Nobody will say for sure if any team offered anything for Peppers, but we can at least be certain no one offered enough to convince the Panthers to part with the guy they drafted No. 2 overall in 2002.

The only other option was a holdout for the season and that would have cost Peppers almost $17 million in salary, so it wasn't really an option.

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