NFC South

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston has continued to work his way back from the torn ACL he suffered last October, even if it is a slow process.

"I felt in three months that I was back to this point," Winston said Thursday, per John DeShazier of the team's official site. 

"But I'm always embracing the process, always trying to find new ways. It's actually a blessing in disguise, being able to strengthen other muscles—my hip flexors, my glutes, my quads and hamstrings. Just kind of revamping my whole body and just making sure everything is tight-knit and ready to go."

Winston added that he will be wearing a knee brace during the season, saying it doesn't restrict his movement.

The 2015 No. 1 overall pick was off to a good start before the injury, totaling 14 touchdowns with just three interceptions in seven starts. The Saints were 5-2 in those games but finished just 4-6 without him.

There were still questions about whether he would return to New Orleans this offseason with the team also publicly pursuing Deshaun Watson. The squad eventually re-signed Winston on a two-year, $28 million deal in March.

The 28-year-old said he is "excited and grateful" to return to the Saints for a third season.

"Every time I get an opportunity to step on the field and work with my teammates, I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity, and I'm grateful that I get a chance to do that," Winston added.

It's been an up-and-down career for Winston, who has been a Pro Bowler and led the NFL in passing yards as recently as 2019. He also led the league in interceptions that year and spent nearly all of 2020 on the bench.

Winston will now hope to take advantage of his latest opportunity if he can return to full strength.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, who is recovering from an ankle injury, is expected to be ready for training camp, head coach Dennis Allen told reporters Thursday.

Allen added that while Thomas is not participating in voluntary OTAs, he is with the team rehabbing his ankle.

"If I had a crystal ball and could tell you all these things, I'd probably be making a lot more money and doing something different," Allen said. "But, yeah, our hope is that he's gonna be ready to go for training camp. So that's what we're pushing for." 

Allen added: "I think he's doing well in his rehab. He's not ready yet. But he's here, he's rehabbing, he's getting himself better. And we're certainly anxious to get him out here. I know that he's working his tail off to get himself back. And we feel good about where he's at right now."

Thomas missed the entire 2021 campaign after ankle surgery.

He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1 of the 2020 season and missed six games. Thomas then landed on injured reserve after Week 14 and sat out the final three games, though he did play in the Saints' two playoff games.

Thomas is one of the best receivers in the NFL. He was a Pro Bowler from 2017 to 2019 and a first-team All-Pro in 2018 and 2019. During his last fully healthy season in 2019, he caught an NFL-record 149 passes for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns. 

The Saints re-signed quarterback Jameis Winston, and when he returns from his torn ACL, the team's offense will have great potential.

In addition to getting Thomas back, New Orleans signed veteran wide receiver Jarvis Landry and drafted Ohio State standout receiver Chris Olave this offseason as targets for Winston. 

The Saints also have some depth out wide with Marquez Callaway and Tre'Quan Smith. 

If the Saints' playmakers stay healthy, the team could return to the playoffs after missing out last year. It's hard to imagine they'll knock off Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to win the NFC South, but it's possible. 

Tom Brady's preparations for The Match are apparently going very well.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers superstar shared a video of an amazing shot Wednesday:

This is why you film every shot on the course…

🎥: @ari_fararooy + @ShadowLion pic.twitter.com/h9QrbLKOmu

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 25, 2022

Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, who will team up with Josh Allen to take on Brady and Aaron Rodgers, chimed in with a little trash talk:

Not going to lie pretty impressive… too bad you wasted it a week early…., https://t.co/Xrc085lrLR

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) May 25, 2022

For a world-class athlete such as Brady, bringing a camera to the course can certainly be helpful to catch those moments that are too good to be true.

For mere mortals, it might not be advisable. Nobody needs to know how many shanked drives or shots into the water you hit.

Despite his struggles in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers, Sam Darnold still believes in his potential in the NFL.

"I'm confident I can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league," Darnold told reporters Tuesday.

The quarterback specifically noted his footwork needs to improve after last season, per David Newton of ESPN.

Darnold was traded to the Panthers in April 2021 after spending his first three years with the New York Jets, but his production didn't improve. He finished with just nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 12 appearances (11 starts). He had a 71.9 quarterback rating, while his 33.2 QBR ranked 29th of 31 qualified players. 

There were high expectations after a hot 3-1 start that featured five passing and five rushing touchdowns, but Darnold contributed just four touchdowns in his final eight appearances. The Panthers won just one of those games on the way to a 5-12 finish.

Despite some flashes of solid play during his four-year career, the 2018 No. 3 overall draft pick has mostly struggled with the Panthers and Jets while producing just a 76.9 passer rating.

The 24-year-old will still have more chances to prove himself after the Panthers picked up his fifth-year option on his rookie deal prior to the 2021 campaign. Darnold will receive a guaranteed $18.9 million salary for 2022, which should be enough to keep him on the roster.

The Panthers selected Matt Corral in the third round of April's draft, but he might not be ready to play in Week 1. Head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said Darnold would be the starter heading into training camp, per Jonathan M. Alexander of the Charlotte Observer.

"Sam does have some magic in his game," McAdoo said last month.

Darnold will hope to finally reach expectations in 2022, although it's clear he is not lacking confidence heading into his fifth NFL season.     

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey played three games during the 2020 season and seven games during the 2021 campaign, so the team is focused on keeping him healthy heading into 2022.

Head coach Matt Rhule told reporters the plan is to hold McCaffrey out of preseason games and take a "different approach with him" at practice.

The Stanford product is also doing what he can to stay healthy and said he reached out to different running backs, including Marshall Faulk, to ask advice on how to stay on the field.

McCaffrey played three games in September last season and then was sidelined until November. He also missed the entire month of December and finished with 442 rushing yards, 343 receiving yards and two total touchdowns in his seven games.

It was a far cry from when he was arguably the top player in the league in 2019 with 1,387 rushing yards, 1,005 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns.

That performance as both a runner and a pass-catcher made him a fantasy football darling and presumably the focus of the Panthers offense for the foreseeable future since he is still just 25 years old, but injuries have prevented him from building on that.

Carolina has also finished in third or fourth place in the NFC South in each of the last four years, so it will need McCaffrey healthy and playing at his best if it is going to compete with the likes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints in the division.

He is all the more important since Sam Darnold comes with his own performance-related question marks under center.

Darnold is not exactly a future Hall of Famer who can carry the offense with his consistent arm, so McCaffrey's presence will force defenders into the box and ideally help open up the aerial attack with D.J. Moore running free downfield. 

If that is able to happen, holding McCaffrey out of preseason games will be well worth it.      

Maybe Tom Brady has a future in baseball if this whole football thing doesn't work out.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback took some batting-practice cuts with Rob Gronkowski during the NFL offseason:

Got some cuts in this morning. Wonder if that Expos offer is still on the table… pic.twitter.com/uloP04RjHX

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 24, 2022

Brady does have some baseball history, as the Montreal Expos selected him in the 18th round of the 1995 first-year player draft. He ultimately chose to play football for the Michigan Wolverines, which turned out to be the right decision since he is now widely regarded as the greatest quarterback in the sport's history.

That didn't stop him from playing an April Fools' Day joke last year when he said he would be the first player/coach/owner in Major League Baseball history upon the Expos' return:

With opening day today, excited to announce we’re bringing the Expos back to the MLB in 2022. Excited to be the first player/coach/owner in MLB history. pic.twitter.com/Sre5y5LUL2

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 1, 2021

He won't be suiting up in the majors anytime soon, but Brady still has a solid swing if Tuesday's video was any indication.

From the tuck rule to Deflategate, there have been some controversies attached to Tom Brady's name throughout his illustrious career.

Now there's one regarding one of his sports cards.

Dan Hajducky of ESPN reported a 2000 Fleer Showcase Masterpiece Brady rookie card that was labeled one-of-one and graded 8.5 NM-MT+ by Beckett Grading Services sold for $396,000 with collectibles marketplace PWCC at a recent auction.

Some #Brady news from ⁦@PWCCmarketplace⁩. https://t.co/5tKgl7oP07

— Dan Hajducky (@DanHajducky) May 20, 2022

That it was marked one-of-one undoubtedly drove the price up, but the controversy comes because there is another one-of-one of the same card that was graded by PSA.

Fleer and Upper Deck each confirmed there used to be multiple one-of-one cards that were printed while experimenting with production, but they were supposed to remain within the factory and never make it out to the public.

One of them did in this case.

Beckett confirmed the card that sold at auction was authentic, and it will send a letter of authenticity to the purchaser. Hajducky noted the PSA-graded one is also thought to be authentic.

Brady may be a one-of-one quarterback who will go down as the greatest ever, but his excellence can apparently be replicated when it comes to sports cards.

The Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks reportedly "still haven't ruled out" a trade for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield before the 2022 NFL season.

Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported Friday the situation has been stuck in a "holding pattern" while the Panthers and Seahawks wait to see whether the Browns become more willing to retain a "much greater portion" of Mayfield's $18.9 million salary than offered so far.

Cleveland put itself in a difficult position in March when it completed a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans to acquire Deshaun Watson without finding a new home for Mayfield.

The Browns also signed Jacoby Brissett and Joshua Dobbs to fill the reserve roles, and they added undrafted rookie Felix Harper as a developmental option after his strong showing during the team's recent minicamp.

So interested teams realize Cleveland would prefer not to pay a backup in a crowded QB room nearly $19 million, and they're trying to leverage that into the Browns eating a sizable portion of that amount.

The contract's structure also doesn't help because the Browns would receive no salary-cap relief if Mayfield is released, but every dollar not retained in a trade would represent savings under the cap, which is why the trade route is strongly preferred.

Cleveland isn't against retaining some salary, but it wants the "contractual intake to be commensurate with the asset they receive in return," per Howe. In other words, if it keeps more money in the deal it wants a better return, likely in the form of a higher draft pick.

Both the Panthers and Seahawks could benefit from an upgrade at quarterback for 2022.

Carolina drafted Matt Corral in the third round last month, but he's coming out of a mostly single-read offense at Ole Miss. A year on the sideline learning to read NFL defenses and adjusting to multiple-read offensive concepts would aid his development.

In turn, the Panthers could be staring down another year of Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker, who combined to throw 10 touchdowns and 16 interceptions last season.

Seattle is heading toward a quarterback competition between Drew Lock, Geno Smith and Jacob Eason. It's unlikely any of them are the long-term answer following the departure of Russell Wilson.

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll downplayed the idea of the team making a deal for another QB, though.

"I don't see us making a trade for anybody at all. I don't see that happening," Carroll told reporters in early May. "But we're certainly going to continue to be open to chances to help our club, and meanwhile we're just going to be battling and competing our tails off. There's always possibilities, so we keep open to that."

There aren't any other obvious potential trade partners for Cleveland, and the San Francisco 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo is another veteran signal-caller who could be on the move before the season gets underway in September, which crowds the market.

So the Browns may have no choice beyond keeping a significant portion of Mayfield's salary if they want to get a deal done.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith scoffed at the notion the team is already looking ahead to the 2023 NFL draft.

The Athletic's Jeff Schultz asked Smith whether he and Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot have discussed the 2023 draft class, to which Smith responded that the line of questioning was "a waste of your time and my time": 

It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard — that a team would try to not win football games. If you don’t, there’s going to be consequences. OK, you’re at the top of the draft — I got it. But you’re in a very transactional phase of the National Football League right now. Trades in the draft. Trades for quarterbacks. It’s a different landscape than when Jimmy Johnson took over the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. It was pre-free agency. The famous Herschel Walker trade. They blew it up and went 1-15, and … it was a long rebuild. That is not the same NFL as today. Back then, people would’ve given their first born before they gave their picks away. People are still going off old narratives, and it’s comical. Any good team knows how to rebuild every year.

"Yeah, we're planning on losing as many games as possible" isn't exactly the message a coach will want to send his players in the offseason.

Nobody at the Falcons would admit it, but it sure seems like Atlanta is building for the future at the expense of the present.

After going 7-10 in 2021, the franchise traded starting quarterback Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts and spent the seventh-least amount ($63.6 million) in free agency, per Over the Cap. The roster isn't going to be significantly better than it was last year.

Coming out of the draft, the Falcons were 29th in Bleacher Report's power rankings. Five wins is their over/under at DraftKings Sportsbook, which also lists them with the longest odds (+8000, $100 bet wins $8,000) of winning the NFC.

Being terrible this year would mean potentially having an opportunity to select Alabama's Bryce Young or Ohio State's C.J. Stroud in the 2023 draft. Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski projected Stroud to go second overall to Atlanta.

Perhaps Smith's squad will exceed expectations. Finishing near the bottom of the NFL would set the table nicely for 2023 and beyond, though.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston has reportedly taken the next step in his progression from an ACL tear.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported Winston has begun planting and throwing off play-action passes, and the current plan is for him to be ready for the start of training camp.

Winston suffered a torn ACL during a Week 8 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If he's ready for the beginning of training camp, that would have Winston fully recovered in almost nine months, which is right around the early end of a typical timeframe.

It's likely the Saints will be more comfortable putting Winston into early practices because quarterbacks rarely take any level of contact in practice as is. The number of QBs who have suffered major injuries during training camp are few and far between. It's possible, if not likely, that New Orleans still holds Winston out of early preseason game action while he gets acclimated.

The Saints signed Winston to a two-year, $28 million contract in March after losing out on the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. The structure of the deal allows the team to move on from the 28-year-old after the 2022 season without much harm, saving around $4.4 million on the salary cap.

If Winston is able to return and perform at the level he was last season (14 touchdowns, three interceptions, 102.8 passer rating), he'll be one of the sport's biggest bargains under center. That said, if there's a drop-off in performance—and Winston is already one of the high-variance quarterbacks in the NFL—the Saints may find themselves trying to lure big fish again next offseason.