In the space of a few hours Wednesday, the NFC South got a lot more interesting,
Standing in the way of the Saints winning a fourth consecutive division title will be the Bucs, with Tom Brady at quarterback, and the Carolina Panthers, with former Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as the starter.
Those days of Saints/Bucs games being buried as the fourth or fifth game on network TV on a Sunday afternoon are over.
And, Bridgewater now becomes the centerpiece of an offense coached by former Saints assistant Joe Brady. The Panthers’ head coach is former Baylor coach Matt Rhule, who has proven to be an outstanding coach at turning around programs.
At Temple, his 2013 team won one game in conference, and two overall.
In 2016, the Owls won ten games in back to back seasons.
In 2017, Rhule was one win, eleven losses in his first season at Baylor. Last season, Baylor won 11 games before falling to Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Sean Payton and his team will have plenty of challenges.
News broke Tuesday that the Philadelphia Eagles will not bring back safety Malcolm Jenkins for the 2020 season.
The Saints should consider bringing Jenkins back. At 32 years old, Jenkins would be the perfect one or two year rental for a team trying to win another Super Bowl title.
And, remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Saints head coach Sean Payton said that not re-signing Jenkins when his first NFL contract was up, was one of the biggest mistakes he has made as Saints head coach.
The Colts made one of the best pickups in free agency, signing quarterback Philip Rivers to a one year deal worth $25 million.
The Colts, like the Saints, have a very good young nucleus.
And, kudos to former Saints quarterback Chase Daniel.
He agreed to a three year deal with the Detroit Lions reportedly worth more than $13 million.
The Lions will be Chase Daniel’s 5th team since he entered the NFL in 2010.
Chase Daniel is this era’s Bobby Scott.
Don’t remember Scott?
Bobby Scott was a 14th round selection, number 340 overall by the Saints in the 1972 draft.
He backed up Archie Manning for most of his career, becoming the starter in 1976, when Archie was lost for the season after surgery on his throwing shoulder.
Bobby Scott made a very nice living as the number two man, a role that Chase Daniel has perfected.
And, finally five years after he was considered the best player in the NFL, quarterback Cam Newton will be looking for work elsewhere.
This surprises no one.
Among the things that happened to Newton was getting hit way too much.
A graphic on the screen in an ESPN free agency special said that Newton had been hit more than 12 hundred times in his NFL career, a career that began in the 2011 season.
Those hits took their toll on Newton.
It will be interesting to see if he can revive his fallen NFL star, elsewhere.