2021 NFC South Outlook

[Jesse]

2020 has been a down year for us Panthers fans. Our franchise QB was let go, our rookie head coach didn’t get a true off season, and our NFC south rival just won the Super Bowl. On the other hand, we saw glimpses of a bright future. Joe Brady gives us a modern high powered offense, our young defensive core kept us in most games, and Matt Rhule shows he’s willing to be aggressive and take calculated risks. Now that the horror that was the 2020 NFL season is over, we can look onward to a brighter and more competitive 2021. 
 

SAINTS

Cap Space: -74 million

Notable Free Agents: Jameis Winston, Sheldon Rankins, Trey Hendrickson, Jared Cook, Marcus Williams, PJ Williams

Outlook: The bad man can’t hurt us anymore. It looks like Drew Brees is finally going to retire and Jameis Winston is the favorite to takeover if he re-signs. The bad news for the Aints is they’re horribly over the cap and will be facing disciplinary actions after footage surfaced of Kamara bringing in a Covid positive person in the facility and refusing to wear his monitoring device. They hold the 28th pick in the draft and can still look to contend if they don’t see a big fall at the QB position. 
 

Falcons

Cap Space: -36 million

Notable Free Agents: Alex Mack, Todd Gurley, Keanu Neal, Damontae Kazee, Younghoe Koo

Outlook: Like the Aints, the Falcons are well over the cap and need to manage their roster to stay competitive and avoid being over the hill. Their two biggest offensive starts in Matt Ryan and Julio Jones take millions of the cap and are on the wrong side of 30. The new regime said they’re looking to keep Matt Ryan, but the Falcons may look for their future QB with the fourth overall pick in the draft. 
 

Bucs

Cap Space: 28 million

Notable Free Agents: Shaq Barrett, Levonte David, Ndamukong Suh, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette

Outlook: The Bucs just won their second Super Bowl and look to be back in contention for the next two years, the duration of Brady’s contract. They will bring back their entire staff, which bodes well for the former bottom dwellers of the NFCS. They do have to overcome the potential loss of a few free agents. As long as the NFL’s golden child stays in Tampa, they’ll be penciled in the playoffs pre-season. 
 

I think most of us know what we’ll need to be competitive: clutch QB; offensive linemen; a true MLB; a corner and free safety. I think Rhule and company’s transition to the NFL and coaching in the senior bowl will really give us a competitive advantage this off season since there won’t be a traditional combine or prospect meetings. We have a new GM in Fitterer who says the foundation of a good football team starts with the line—a position that has haunted us since Gross retired. What can we expect from us in Charlotte? Who knows.  All I can ask for is a team that’s competitive in every game and a healthy CMC.