NFC South

Cam Newton struggled with the Carolina Panthers last season, but the veteran quarterback told The Pivot Podcast on Tuesday (via Joe Person of The Athletic) that the circumstances of his return held him back:

"In Carolina, I put myself into another f--ked up situation. I signed on Thursday and was playing on Sunday. The next week, I started and I was still trying to learn the offense...Before I allow the narrative to be made that I don't have it anymore, I'm just saying that I put myself in a f--ked up situation. That had a ricochet effect toward how people think of me."

Newton had gone unsigned after the New England Patriots released him shortly before the 2021 season. When Panthers starter Sam Darnold suffered a shoulder injury, the team turned to Newton on a one-year, $10 million deal with $4.5 million guaranteed.

The veteran appeared in eight games (five starts), totaling four passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns and five interceptions.

Newton's 25.5 QBR would be dead last in the NFL if he had enough plays to qualify.

His time on the field was still rightfully earned thanks to a hot start.

After Darnold's injury, P.J. Walker got the start with the newly signed Newton only active in a backup role. The 33-year-old saw nine snaps in his first game, recording one passing touchdown and one rushing score in a 34-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Newton earned the starting role the next week and played well, finishing 21-of-27 for 189 yards and two touchdowns, plus 46 rushing yards and one more touchdown in a 27-21 loss to the then-Washington Football Team.

Things went downhill from there, with Newton struggling with his accuracy and the Panthers losing each of his four remaining starts as they fell out of playoff contention.

The three-time Pro Bowler and 2015 MVP has not been an effective passer since 2018, although injuries certainly slowed him down in recent years. He also hasn't had a full offseason with any team since his last stint with Carolina.

Newton, who is still a free agent, will hope to get another chance in which he can learn the playbook and fully prepare for his on-field duties.

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady may have played a role in running back Leonard Fournette spurning the New England Patriots in favor of re-signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

According to Greg Auman of The Athletic, Fournette said Brady reached out to him while he was visiting the Patriots in March and said, "What's your ass doing up there?"

Fournette's visit to Brady's former team occurred just days after Brady announced that he was ending his short-lived retirement to return to the Bucs for a 23rd NFL season in 2022.

Fournette subsequently signed a three-year, $21 million contract to return to the Buccaneers.

Originally, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Fournette with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft out of LSU, and he went on to spend the first three years of his career with the Jags.

Jacksonville surprisingly released him prior to the 2020 campaign, which led to the Bucs signing him to one-year deals in both 2020 and 2021.

Fournette put up modest numbers during the 2020 regular season, rushing for 367 yards and six touchdowns to go along with 36 receptions for 233 yards, but he raised his level of play significantly during the playoffs.

In four postseason games en route to the Bucs winning the Super Bowl, Fournette rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns, plus he had 18 grabs for 148 yards and another score.

Brady was the biggest driving force behind Tampa winning the Super Bowl, but Fournette wasn't far behind, earning him the nickname Playoff Lenny.

That playoff performance carried into the 2021 regular season, as Fournette racked up 812 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in 14 games, as well as 69 catches for 454 yards and two more scores.

The 10 touchdowns tied a career high, and Fournette firmly established himself as Brady's most trusted option out of the backfield.

With Ronald Jones leaving via free agency, Fournette is the Bucs' unquestioned No. 1 back entering the 2022 season, and he has a chance to enjoy a career year.

That may not have been the case in New England with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson both requiring plenty of touches.

Not only will Fournette be a go-to guy in Tampa Bay, but he also will have a legitimate chance to win a second Super Bowl in three seasons.

The Carolina Panthers are considered a potential landing spot for Jimmy Garoppolo in a trade, but Joseph Person of The Athletic reported "there are concerns within the Panthers organization about the health of Garoppolo's throwing shoulder after surgery in March."

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback underwent surgery on March 8 for an injury he suffered in the NFC Championship Game. He said in April that he was targeting a return in training camp from his offseason surgery, per Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press.

San Francisco has not been shy about Garoppolo's trade availability, with general manager John Lynch saying in May the team was "close" to a deal before the surgery "brought things to a screeching halt."

The 49ers will want to deal Garoppolo before next season because of his $26.95 million cap hit, which would leave just $1.4 million of dead cap if he is traded or released, per Spotrac.

Carolina also needs a proven option at quarterback after a disappointing year from Sam Darnold.

The former New York Jet didn't fare much better after his trade to the Panthers, finishing 2021 with nine passing touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 71.9 quarterback rating in 12 games.

Third-round pick Matt Corral could be the quarterback of the future for Carolina, but he would be difficult to trust early in the season.

Assuming he's healthy, Garoppolo would represent an upgrade after tallying a 98.7 quarterback rating in 2021, throwing 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions in 15 starts. The 49ers are 31-14 in the regular season and 4-2 in the postseason when the 30-year-old starts.

The impending arrival of NFL free agency led Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady to reconsider his retirement.

Brady said Thursday following Capital One's The Match he was pressured into returning to the gridiron with free agency on the horizon, per ESPN's Jenna Laine:

At this stage, it's like 55% yes and 45% no. It's not 100-0. That's just the reality. It's not that I'm not 100% committed, it's just as soon as I make the commitment to do it, it's like 'Ugh. All right, here we go.' It's like running a marathon. You can't decide two weeks before the marathon, 'Hey, I'm going to start running.' We got right to free agency and I felt some pressure to do it and talked to the team and organization and it all worked out.

Brady announced March 13 he was ending his brief NFL hiatus and rejoining the Buccaneers. That came three days before the start of the NFL's 2022 league year, which signals the start of free agency.

Brady's decision not only benefited Tampa Bay's front office by eliminating the need to search for a new starting quarterback, but it also sent a message to any of the team's free agents and others who might want to sign with the Bucs.

Tampa Bay managed to retain the services of Chris Godwin, William Gholston, Ryan Jensen, Carlton Davis and Leonard Fournette while adding Russell Gage, Akiem Hicks and Shaq Mason.

Thanks in part to Brady sticking around, the Buccaneers are widely viewed as title contenders. They're the betting favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the NFC (+330) and have the second-best Super Bowl odds (+700) behind the Buffalo Bills (+600).

That's probably not the case if Brady's retirement had been final. When he announced his return, most of the Bucs' best alternatives had either been traded elsewhere or reaffirmed their commitments to their current team.

The burden Brady felt in March was likely shared by general manager Jason Licht, who would've had to scramble to pivot in a different direction.

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Two years after breaking ground, the Carolina Panthers' practice facility project in Rock Hill, South Carolina, won't be completed.

Per Steve Reed of the Associated Press, the proposed $800 million facility is "officially dead" after Panthers owner David Tepper's real estate company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday.

Plans for a new practice facility have been in the works since 2018, when Tepper first purchased the Panthers franchise from Jerry Richardson.

According to a timeline of events from John Marks of The Herald, Rock Hill city officials approved plans for a new Panthers practice facility in May 2019.

The Panthers eventually bought the Waterford Golf Club in Rock Hill for the planned site of its new headquarters. A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility was held in July 2020, with a planned opening in 2023.

According to Marks, Panthers COO Mark Hart sent a request to York County asking for help because "funding for the infrastructure remains at a crossroads."

Tepper Sports & Entertainment announced in March the project was being put on hold until they could "find an economically acceptable solution for all parties to continue this project in Rock Hill."

York County eventually agreed to a proposed deal in which it would pay $225 million in public infrastructure, but the bonds for the loan were never issued.

The Panthers said in a statement on April 19 they terminated their contracts with Rock Hill for the construction of their new headquarters and practice facility, citing the city not curing "its default within the prescribed 30-day cure period."

Rock Hill officials called the team's statement "misleading and erroneous" and said they "attempted to meet with the Panthers on numerous occasions to no avail."

It's unclear at this point if Tepper will attempt to find another location to build a new practice facility.

Carolina has used Gibbs Stadium at Wofford College as its training camp home since entering the NFL in 1995.

Tom Brady's not only the winningest player in NFL history, he's also shattering likeness records.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback earned $9.5 million in licensing deals signed through the NFLPA over a 12-month span spanning March 2021 through February 2022, per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.

That figure does not include marketing deals for his individual likeness (e.g. those Subway ads we see every 14 minutes) but ones that necessitate licensing through the NFLPA (jerseys, trading cards, etc.). 

Brady's earnings dwarf those of his next-highest competitor, Patrick Mahomes, who comes in at just $3.3 million. Kaplan's report notes that it's rare for a player to break the $4 million barrier, let alone Brady raking in over double that total.

It's likely Brady's brief retirement played a factor in an uptick in interest, but he announced his decision Feb. 1, leaving only a four-week period for fans to drive up sales.

To put it simply: Tom Brady is the NFL's most popular player, and it's not even close. He's done an excellent job of opening himself up more on social media in recent years, and winning a Super Bowl the first year after leaving New England certainly didn't hurt matters in terms of his legacy. 

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston seemingly hit a low point after tearing his ACL in October.

"The first few weeks, I was sleeping on my parents' couch—no hotel, I’m sleeping on their couch," Winston told Albert Breer of MMQB.

The 28-year-old missed the final 10 games of the 2021 season while rehabbing from the knee injury. He acknowledged his situation in November served as a wake-up call to work his way back to the field.

"It got to the point where I was like, I got to get off this couch! Like, there's no way I can stay on this couch," Winston added. "Going to rehab, coming back, sitting on the couch, icing and then going to sleep on the couch, it was like, No, I didn’t live my life to live on my parents' couch."

Winston was a free agent this offseason, but he landed a two-year, $28 million deal in March to return to New Orleans.

"I kind of like that back-against-the-wall mentality," Winston said. "It's being in the dungeon by yourself and just coming out of it when you're ready—when you're ready to declare to this world that you've been doing the work in silence."

The 2015 No. 1 overall draft pick played well when on the field last season, totaling 1,170 passing yards with 14 touchdowns and just three interceptions. His 102.8 passer rating would have ranked seventh in the NFL with enough attempts to qualify, ahead of top players like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.

Efficiency was a major problem for Winston during his previous stint as a starter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. He led the league with 5,109 passing yards while throwing 33 touchdowns, but his 30 interceptions were also a league high.

After sitting behind Drew Brees in 2020, Winston had seemingly turned the corner as a passer with improved decision-making in 2021, but the injury stopped his progress.

The quarterback is hoping his hard work in rehab will pay off as he gets another chance to prove himself in 2022.     

Antonio Brown has no plans to play in the NFL during the 2022 season. 

During an interview with Fan Controlled Football reporter Charly Arnolt, Brown was asked if he was going to be playing next season. He responded, "Nah, don’t play yourself looking at me to play."

Brown was also asked if football was still important to him. He responded to that question saying you "can't play football forever" and that he feels he has accomplished a lot over his career. 

.@AB84 interview with @CharlyOnTV

Discusses his music career, playing football next season, and all things FCF@fuboSports pic.twitter.com/d3pigdoLO2

— Fan Controlled Sports (@fancontrolled) May 29, 2022

Brown's comments come after he said earlier this month that he wanted to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler. At the time, it was unclear if he meant he wanted to retire as a member of the franchise this summer or in the future. 

Just wanna Retire A Steeler

— AB (@AB84) May 16, 2022

Not Play Jus Retire so we Clear

— AB (@AB84) May 16, 2022

Considering his comments during an appearance at Fan Controlled Football on Saturday, it certainly seems like he wants to call it quits.

However, it's unclear if that is by choice or if it's because no teams have expressed interest in him this offseason, which would be rather hard to believe after he said in January that a "couple teams called" him after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past season. 

Brown, who was selected by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft, went on to have an extremely successful career with the franchise and, at one point, was viewed as one of the best pass-catchers in the league. 

During his nine seasons in Pittsburgh, he caught 837 passes for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns in 130 games. He recorded seven seasons of more than 1,000 receiving yards and was a seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro. 

Brown's career slowly began to deteriorate when the Steelers traded him to the then-Oakland Raiders ahead of the 2019 season. The 33-year-old requested a trade from the Raiders after the franchise voided the guarantees in his contract after fining him because of an altercation with general manager Mike Mayock.

The Raiders initially tried to trade Brown, but after failing to find a trade partner, he was released without having played a single game for the franchise. Brown went on to sign with the New England Patriots and appeared in just one game for Bill Belichick's squad, catching four passes for 56 yards and one touchdown. 

New England released Brown in September 2019 after it was revealed he was facing sexual assault and rape allegations by his former trainer. He eventually resolved a civil dispute with the trainer in April 2021. 

Brown also served an eight-game suspension at the beginning of the 2020 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy because of an incident in January 2020 in which he attacked the driver of a moving company truck. 

After serving the suspension, he signed with the Buccaneers, appearing in eight regular-season games for the franchise and catching 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns in three playoff games en route to winning a Super Bowl title with the Bucs. 

Brown returned to Tampa Bay for the 2021 season and appeared in just seven games, catching 42 passes for 545 yards and four touchdowns, before being released following an outburst in which he ran off the field during a Week 17 win over the New York Jets. 

If this is truly the end for Brown, it marks the end of a career that saw both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He'll end his career with 12,291 yards, 83 touchdowns, one Super Bowl title, seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pros. 

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota told reporters that he will "absolutely" mentor rookie signal-caller Desmond Ridder when asked about it during a Thursday press conference:

Absolutely. I kind of always view that relationship in the quarterback room as important and special. I always felt that a good quarterback room can allow everybody to be better and allow everybody to grow. ... At the end of the day if they've got questions or I've got questions, they're a great set of eyes for me as well.

Mariota, a seven-year NFL veteran, signed a two-year, $18.75 million deal with the Falcons this offseason. He's replacing Matt Ryan, who started 14 years in Atlanta before the Falcons traded him to the Indinapolis Colts this offseason.

The Falcons also picked up Ridder in the NFL draft with the No. 74 overall draft pick this year out of Cincinnati.

The quarterback mentoring question has come into play this offseason after Tennessee Titans starter Ryan Tannehill was asked about such a potential relationship with rookie Malik Willis, who is now aboard the AFC South champions after going in the third round.

"I don't think it's my job to mentor him."

Ryan Tannehill on mentoring Malik Willis 😳 @brgridiron

(via @PaulKuharskyNFL)pic.twitter.com/uyAFhtmoDs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2022

Tannehill later clarified the comments and said he meant no disrespect whatsoever.

.@Titans QB @ryantannehill1 with a long, heartfelt comment about wanting to be a great teammate to @malikwillis.

Said he meant no disrespect to Malik and is disappointed with how things got twisted over his quote on mentoring.

🎥 pic.twitter.com/4nhdlxSXhU

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) May 24, 2022

There's no issues on Willis' end either, as the ex-Liberty star said, per Ben Arthur of the Tennessean: "We chopped it up. It was never anything negative. Ryan is a good dude. … Everything is cool, man."

Everything also appears cool in Atlanta as the Falcons try to figure out a long-term solution at the position.

The Falcons certainly have options at quarterback between Mariota and Ridder. The 2023 draft class also appears rich with prospects with potentially Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Alabama's Bryce Young, Stanford's Tanner McKee and Miami's Tyler Van Dyke all in the mix.

Atlanta is in a transitional period after the end of the Ryan era. The Falcons did post a respectable seven-win season amid a significant rebuild under new general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith.

Any quarterback drama doesn't appear to be a hindrance toward that goal as the Falcons look toward their 2022 season opener versus the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 11.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank announced donations to the Sandy Hook Promise foundation and the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention on Friday through his Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

Blank donated $100,000 to each organization in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, over the past two weeks:

Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation stepping up and pitching in: pic.twitter.com/WfbVGUksJI

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 27, 2022

In his statement, Blank called for addressing the "mental health crisis" in the United States, as well as "sensible gun reforms."

Payton Gendron has been charged with shooting 13 people at a supermarket in Buffalo on May 14, killing 10 of them. The 18-year-old Gendron reportedly posted a racist manifesto online before the shooting.

Each of the 10 people killed in the Buffalo shooting was Black.

In Uvalde, Salvador Ramos shot and killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School, including 19 students. Ramos, 18, was ultimately shot and killed by police when they intervened.

Sandy Hook Promise was created following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children between the ages of six and seven.

In its mission statement, Sandy Hook Promise notes its goal is to end school shootings through "sensible, bipartisan school and gun safety legislation."

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention pushes for the implementation of hospital-based violence intervention programs meant to aid those injured in violent attacks both physically and mentally.