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Mike Evans, who is set to hit the open market, had his best season in years under new Panthers HC Dave Canales.
With new head coach Dave Canales leading the transition, the Carolina Panthers have completely overhauled their offensive staff this winter. And with new faces comes new connections for the organization.
Here are 13 pending offensive free agents, in areas of particular need, with ties to Canales’ staff:
The Minnesota Vikings need to fortify their offensive line. These six players could be targets for them when free agency begins.
Offensive line is a position group that has haunted the Minnesota Vikings for some time. What has plagued them has been a series of poor draft picks, rough free agent signings and bad development.
Over the last few years, the Vikings have started to find hits, especially at tackle. Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill are two of the best tackles in the National Football League. On the interior, Ed Ingram is slowly developing and Garrett Bradbury is fine but replaceable.
With the current state of the offensive line, left guard is currently open as are the backup offensive line spots. Who could the Vikings choose to bring in to help fortify the offensive line? One seems like a near certainty at left guard so we focused on rotational guys behind the starters.
The Bucs may need to look elsewhere to replace these players if they leave in free agency:
NFL free agency is a dirty business where teams often leave players out in the cold after a disappointing season. While the Buccaneers surprised many with how successful they were in 2023, they still have some hard decisions to make about players coming to the end of their contracts.
Last season was rough on the Bucs’ cap situation, which included over $75 million in dead cap from their championship window. This forced Tampa Bay to make some bargain free agent signings and pushed off the potential extensions of players like Devin White.
While the free agent signings largely did not pan out, The deferred extensions may end up saving the Bucs money long-term, particularly given White’s regression on the field and the improvement of the linebackers behind him.
Here are three pending free agents the Bucs would need to replace to this offseason:
Bucs edge rusher Markees Watts could get some more playing time against the 49ers.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain mostly healthy heading into their game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Safety Ryan Neal was declared out with a thumb injury, so him being inactive is no surprise. Guard Matt Feiler was questionable heading into the matchup, but it seems like he’s set to be inactive as well, so Aaron Stinnie will once again get the start there. One interesting thing to note is that edge rusher Cam Gill is inactive, meaning that rookie Markees Watts will get some more playing time on Sunday against the 49ers.
Here is Tampa Bay’s inactives list:
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A starting corner for Tampa Bay is out and it looks as if the Bucs will use a different rotational running back against the Titans Sunday.
The Bucs will be without one of their starting cornerbacks on Sunday.
Cornerback Carlton Davis was officially ruled out with the inactives list on Sunday, suffering from a toe injury. He was listed as questionable to play, but he’s not gonna make it — as such, CB Zyon McCollum will take his place. Jamel Dean, who has been in concussion protocol all week, will play. CB Keenan Isaac was elevated from the practice squad to serve as depth today.
Guard Matt Feiler will also be out while still recovering from a knee injury. Interestingly enough, running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn is inactive, meaning that undrafted free agent Sean Tucker could get the nod as the team’s rotational back.
Here is Tampa Bay’s inactives list:
The Bucs are dealing with two injuries on Sunday, but everyone else appears to be healthy and playing.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off against the Houston Texans with minimal injuries on Sunday.
Guard Matt Feiler and defensive tackle Logan Hall are injured and thus will not be active against Houston, with guard Aaron Stinnie stepping in again for Feiler and the defensive line rotation moving around Hall. Aside from that, though, pretty much everyone else is healthy, keeping a streak of good injury luck (so far) for the Bucs heading into each week. All other players on the inactives list are healthy scratches, including quarterback John Wolford, who was elevated to the 53-man roster earlier in the week.
Here is Tampa Bay’s inactives list:
The Bucs are mostly healthy, but the Texans will be missing one of their key playmakers.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be in good shape when they face off against the Houston Texans in Week 9.
Both guard [autotag]Matt Feiler[/autotag] and defensive tackle [autotag]Logan Hall[/autotag] will be out for Sunday’s game, and three other players — cornerback Christian Izien (illness), safety Kaevon Merriweather (ankle) and nose tackle Vita Vea (groin) are questionable, but only Izien didn’t participate on Friday. As it stands, the Bucs are mostly healthy.
Here is what the Week 9 injury report for both teams looks like:
On the Texans side, wideout Robert Woods (foot) and tight end Brevin Jordan (foot) are both out, and a third player who won’t make Sunday’s game is one of Houston’s biggest. Running back Dameon Pierce is dealing with an ankle injury, and he won’t play — a huge boon for the Bucs. Houston’s offense will have to make do with a subdued rushing attack when the game comes around.
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The Bucs are mostly healthy as they get into their Week 9 practice slate.
Guard Matt Feiler was at practice in a knee brace and did not participate in practice. Defensive tackle Logan Hall was also not a participant, but he was working with trainers at the side during the practice slot allotted to media. Everyone else participated at least a little bit, with tight end Ko Kieft, safety Kaevon Merriweather and tackle Tristan Wirfs set as limited participants.
Here is what the Week 9 injury report looks like:
On Houston’s side, numerous players are on the injury list. Five players did not participate, including wideout Robert Woods, guard Laremy Tunsil, running back Dameon Pierce, tight end Brevin Jordan and corner Ka’Dar Hollman not participating on Wednesday.
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These five players are the lowest-graded so far by PFF’s metrics:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense has fired on all cylinders more often than not, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its problems.
The Bucs have a great passing offense, ranking sixth in EPA/play in the statistic, but struggle in the run game considerably — Tampa Bay is one of the worst rushing teams in the league. A part of this is the interior offensive line, which hasn’t been nearly as productive as the tackles in Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke have been.
Pro Football Focus has graded every Bucs player so far this year, and some of those weaknesses show in their lowest-graded Tampa Bay offensive players (minimum 30 snaps):
PFF rated these five offensive players the lowest against the Eagles Monday:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive prowess certainly slowed down on Monday night after its first two weeks prior.
The Bucs offense scored 20 points in its first two contests but managed just 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 25-11 loss. The most notable lacking aspect of the offense was the run game, which only managed 41 yards on the ground. Much of this was due to the interior line’s poor stretch of play, which has been a notable problem this season.
Pro Football Focus took to grading the offensive players’ snaps for Monday’s game, and while there were some good performers, others struggled. Here are PFF’s five worst offensive players against the Eagles:
