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Time for a quick look at some headlines from around the NFC South.

• The New Orleans Saints’ bounty program dominated the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., in late March. The owners will have another meeting Tuesday in Atlanta. The May gathering is a much quicker and smaller meeting (owners, coaches and executives attend the March meeting) with an agenda that includes some updates on stadium situations and some talk about minor rule changes. But I would expect NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to get asked about the defamation lawsuit recently filed against him by New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma, and the commissioner also might have to field some more questions on the Saints’ situation from the media.

• The Carolina Panthers have signed undrafted rookie receiver Hubert Anyiam. He spent a brief period after the draft with San Diego before being waived. Anyiam played at Oklahoma State. He’ll be fighting for one of the final receiver spots on the roster. Veteran Steve Smith is locked in as a starter. But, after that, Brandon LaFell, David Gettis, Kealoha Pilares, rookie Joe Adams and Armanti Edwards are competing for the remaining jobs. To make room for Anyiam, the Panthers released defensive tackle Jason Shirley.

• Speaking of Carolina’s receiver situation, Joseph Person has a breakdown of that, as well as some other position battles as the Panthers get ready to take the field for Tuesday’s organized team activity.

• Jay Adams writes that Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones are prime candidates for the next wave of the NFL Network’s list of the top 100 players for 2012. I’m thinking there’s a pretty good chance Jones could end up being ranked ahead of Roddy White, who fell 41 spots from last year and came in at No. 65 on this year’s list.

• Mike Freeman writes that a lot of New Orleans players feel the franchise is being “railroaded’’ in the bounty scandal, and say the NFL hasn’t produced enough evidence to justify the punishments. But Freeman is right when he says whatever evidence the NFL has might stay locked away. The league says it has sources to protect. Unless Vilma’s lawsuit or something else pushes this matter into an open court room, the NFL doesn’t have to release anything more.

• The one knock on Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Lavonte David is his size (6-foot-1 and 233 pounds). But Scott Reynolds writes that shouldn’t be a concern because David is such a sure tackler. Funny, but a lot of people said Derrick Brooks was undersized and should move to safety back when he was coming out of college. Funny, but the Bucs left Brooks at linebacker, and that ended up working out very nicely.

There's a big focus on New York on Thursday as the Saints appeal their suspensions and punishments for their bounty program and we'll stay on that all day. But let's take a quick run through some other NFC South headlines.

Although he was very close to former Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris, veteran cornerback Ronde Barber said it’s a good thing new coach Greg Schiano is running a tighter ship. He’s right. Morris was a nice guy and was well liked by his players. But it became painfully obvious last season that he wasn’t running a very structured program and at least some of his players were taking advantage of that. It quickly has become obvious that Schiano is running a much more structured program.

Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan showed up at Augusta National. He wasn’t a spectator for the Masters. He was working as a caddie. Ryan will get back to his regular job April 16, when the Falcons begin their offseason program.

At a gathering to celebrate former Carolina receiver Muhsin Muhammad taking over a restaurant chain, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said it often is difficult for athletes to adjust to the business world. Muhammad might be wise to take some notes from his former boss. Richardson is the ultimate success story of a former player in the business world. Richardson had a brief career as a receiver with the Baltimore Colts in the Johnny Unitas days. He then started a fast-food franchise that grew into a restaurant empire that gave Richardson the resources he needed to start the Panthers as an expansion team in 1995.

In some non-bounty news involving the Saints, a federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit over whether the phrase “Who Dat’’ can be trademarked or is public domain. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this month.

Former Atlanta safety James Sanders has left for Arizona as a free agent. Sanders provided stability in Atlanta’s secondary as William Moore and Thomas DeCoud went through some growing pains. But Moore and DeCoud have progressed and that made Sanders expendable.

Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is the only NFC South player remaining in the "Madden 13" cover vote.

The list has been trimmed to eight players and Newton is matched against Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald in the latest round. You can cast your vote here.

Newton was a big winner against San Diego tight end Antonio Gates in the previous round. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was knocked out, losing narrowly to Baltimore running back Ray Rice.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Although there is no lockout this year, the three younger starting quarterbacks in the NFC South are facing some unique offseason hurdles.

Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith said Monday at the owners meetings he wishes quarterback Matt Ryan already was working with new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. Prior to the lockout, offseason programs used to start in mid-March. But the collective-bargaining agreement signed last summer changed the rules for offseason programs.

Ryan and the Falcons can’t start their offseason program until April 16. It’s the same for the Carolina Panthers and second-year quarterback Cam Newton. At least Newton will be playing in the same offense he was in last season with coordinator Rob Chudzinski. But Newton had no offseason program last season and will face a shorter one than teams had in the past.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Josh Freeman catches a bit of a break because league rules allow teams with new coaches to start their offseason programs two weeks earlier than other teams. The Bucs have a new coach in Greg Schiano and Freeman will have to quickly digest a new offense with coordinator Mike Sullivan.

Although the New Orleans Saints face an uncertain future with coach Sean Payton scheduled to begin a suspension April 1, they should have an advantage in this area. They’ve got a veteran quarterback in Drew Brees, assuming he signs his franchise tender or agrees to a new contract before the offseason program starts. Payton built one of the league’s most prolific offenses and Brees has mastered it. No matter who is acting as head coach of the Saints, the offensive system isn't likely to change at all and the shortened offseason shouldn’t present as much of a challenge as it does for Ryan, Freeman and Newton.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- I just got the compensatory draft picks for the NFC South. Don’t get too excited because the list is short and unimpressive.

The Carolina Panthers have the division’s earliest compensatory pick. They’ve been granted the final pick in the sixth round (No. 207 overall).

The Atlanta Falcons have the 42nd pick in the seventh round. That’s No. 249 overall.

That’s it. The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not given any compensatory picks.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- There still is a chance free-agent tight end Jeremy Shockey could return to the Carolina Panthers.

A team official said the Panthers remain in contact with Shockey's agent and the tight end has told the team he wants to play another season. No deal is imminent but the two sides are keeping an open dialogue.

For the record, “the snitch’’ on this was not Warren Sapp.

Shockey, 31, joined the Panthers last season. Although Shockey produced a career-low 37 catches, the Panthers believe he's a perfect complement to Greg Olsen, the team’s top pass-catching tight end. There were previous reports that Shockey had told the New York Giants he was interested in playing for them. That’s where Shockey began his career before being traded to the New Orleans Saints in 2008. There have no indications the Giants have any interest in bringing Shockey back.

Update: Shockey's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, just arrived at the NFL owners meetings and confirmed that he and the Panthers continue to talk, but said no deal is imminent.

NFC North colleague Kevin Seifert brought up an excellent point about an additional consequence of the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal.

You can almost certainly cross the Saints off the list of teams to play the season-opening Wednesday night (Sept. 5) game at the New York Giants.

Before all the trouble started, the Saints appeared to be on a short list to face the defending Super Bowl champions. They did it last year when they opened the season with a Thursday night game at Green Bay.

Since the NFL doesn’t usually schedule division opponents in its kickoff game, the Saints likely were on a short list with the Packers and Steelers to open in New York. I’m pretty sure that list is down to just the Packers and the Steelers now, and I’d guess that Green Bay is the heavy favorite. That would pit the past two Super Bowl champions against each other, and you can’t ask for a better storyline.

I really don’t think the league would want to take away attention from the opening game with another big round of publicity about the bounty program. In fact, I think you could see less of the Saints, who have been a prime-time regular in recent years, in nationally televised games.

We might find out the exact pairing for the opening game next week at the NFL meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. We likely will get the complete NFL schedule in April.

The announcement of the NFL’s penalties for the New Orleans Saints bounty program contained one item that involves another NFC South team.

The league specifically mentions four players who were targeted with bounties. They were Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton. Favre and Warner are retired, and Rodgers plays in the NFC North.

But Newton plays for the Carolina Panthers. Apparently, the bounty on Newton came in last season’s regular-season finale, when Newton left the game and backup Derek Anderson made one of his two appearances last season.

I’m pretty sure that mention of Newton in the NFL’s report caught some eyes in Carolina. Keep in mind, the Panthers used the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft on Newton. He won the offensive rookie of the year award and is viewed as the franchise quarterback.

The fact he was being targeted for injury by an opponent isn’t going to sit too well with Carolina’s players. They’re not going to forget that.

This is going to add some intensity to the rivalry between the Panthers and Saints.

Jeremy Shockey hasn’t signed anywhere, but he’s making news.

The tight end that played in Carolina last season, and New Orleans the three seasons before that, got into a Twitter war with former New York Giants teammate Armani Toomer on Thursday. It started after reports in the New York media that Shockey had let the Giants know he wanted to return to them after forcing them to trade him in 2008. That prompted an unfriendly tweet from Toomer.

“No!! Shockey,” Toomer wrote on his Twitter account. “ ‘I will never play4 you again!’ he yelled at (general manager Jerry) Reese in 08. Let him keep his word. Bad teammate, worse person.”

That brought a volley back from Shockey. He tweeted that he hasn’t talked with the receiver since “he loafed on a play and got man handled in my leg that caused it to break.”

I had heard all the stories about Shockey being a problem child in his New York days. But I’ve got to be honest and say I never saw him cause any major issues while he was with the Saints and Panthers. He could be surprisingly good with the media at times, and very moody at others.

He was a role player with the Saints and Panthers, and seemed to accept that role. I think there still is a chance he could re-sign with the Panthers, if he wants, because I don’t think he burned that bridge.

But I think his bridge to New York might have been torched back in 2008. The Giants already have brought in free-agent tight end Martellus Bennett.

It’s been all quiet on the Jeremy Shockey front in Carolina since the combine, when coach Ron Rivera said he thought the veteran tight end was retiring, and general manager Marty Hurney said he’d heard nothing of the sort.

In fact, we’re still not certain if Shockey has told the Panthers if he intends to play or not this season.

But it appears Shockey has let one NFL team know of his intentions. Shockey reportedly has let the New York Giants know he’d like to return to them. That’s where he started his career and had some good years before forcing his way out in 2008 with a trade to the New Orleans Saints. Shockey had three productive and peaceful (by his standards) seasons with the Saints.

Then, Shockey joined the Panthers last season and was a nice role player behind Greg Olsen, who was Carolina’s main pass-catcher at tight end. I suspect the Panthers wouldn’t mind bringing Shockey back for another season if the price is reasonable. But it’s not a high priority for the Panthers, because they have Olsen.

Besides, it looks like Shockey might have his mind on something else. He wants to return to New York, where he once clashed with quarterback Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. But I’m not so sure the Giants are waiting with open arms for the 31-year-old tight end. They already have signed tight end Martellus Bennett from Dallas.

The news that Randy Moss is working out for the New Orleans Saints is big, simply because names don’t come much bigger when it comes to wide receivers.

But I don’t know that a 35-year-old wide receiver who was out of football last season is suddenly going to come in and carry the Saints to a Super Bowl title. I don’t even know if the Saints actually will sign Moss.

What’s happening here is the Saints are looking at possibilities. That’s not a bad idea because they could be losing top receiver Marques Colston when free agency starts next week. They also could lose Robert Meachem, who, while not as prolific as Colston, has become an important cog in the Saints’ rotation of wide receivers.

Moss is worth a look. If he has anything left, he becomes an option if Colston and/or Meachem depart. Like Colston and Meachem, Moss is a taller wide receiver and could pair nicely with shorter receivers Lance Moore and Devery Henderson.

But Moss isn’t a carbon copy of Colston. In his best days -- and it’s been a while since Moss was at the top of his game (2009 in New England was his last good season) -- he wasn’t the same style of receiver as Colston. Moss was a long-striding receiver who could get open deep. Colston has never been that kind of player. But Colston’s real value to the Saints has been in the midlevel passing game. He has dependable hands and his size has allowed him to make a big impact over the middle.

But the reality is that New Orleans’ cap situation could make it impossible for the Saints to keep Colston. Moss likely would come at a cheap price.

The question that’s always been associated with Moss has been, is he worth the trouble, at any price? As we all know, Moss’ enormous talent often has been overshadowed by his behavior. At just about every one of his stops, Moss has gained a reputation for being selfish and not a great influence in the locker room.

But if the Saints lose Colston and Moss shows in his workout that he has some physical skills left, I say go ahead and sign him.

The Saints have taken shots on guys with less-than-stellar reputations in the past and that often has worked out. That’s because the Saints have a different locker room than most teams. They have a locker room that’s run with an iron hand by quarterback Drew Brees.

There’s an unwritten rule in New Orleans that nobody messes with Brees, and everyone in the locker room is held accountable by the quarterback. A lot of people said tight end Jeremy Shockey would be a problem when the Saints brought him in a few years back.

Shockey had pushed Giants quarterback Eli Manning all around when the two were together in New York. But Shockey’s time in New Orleans was relatively peaceful. That’s because Shockey knew he wouldn’t be there long if he crossed Brees or didn’t work up to the standards expected by the quarterback.

It can work the same way with Moss.

Tampa Bay sometimes gets a rap as a region that doesn’t care all that much about the Buccaneers. You can point to attendance to back that up. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

It’s late February and one little bit of news has caused a pretty major buzz in these parts. With Mario Manningham saying he doesn’t expect to return to the New York Giants, there’s suddenly a lot of speculation that he’ll end up in Tampa Bay. I heard a couple guys talking about it at my gym earlier Monday and it’s making the rounds on sports radio.

In one regard, it makes sense. Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan was the quarterbacks coach for the Giants the past two years. Before that he coached receivers. He knows Manningham and Sullivan’s offense is likely to be somewhat similar to what the Giants run.

Manningham to Tampa Bay certainly could happen, but I don’t think this is the kind of move that’s going to solve all the Bucs’ problems. Manningham is a good, but not great, receiver. He did play well in the postseason, but he never has caught more than 60 passes in a year.

He might be a good No. 2 or No. 3 receiver, but it’s not a good idea to project a guy like that into the No. 1 spot. The Bucs did that years ago with Alvin Harper and Bert Emanuel and neither worked out all that well.

Plus, Manningham’s style isn’t dramatically different from what the Bucs have in Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn. He could compete with them, push them and maybe share playing time with them. But what the Bucs really need at wide receiver is someone who can stretch the field.

Manningham could be a nice piece in Tampa Bay’s receiving corps. But the Bucs may have their eye on something bigger -- or at least faster -- in free agency. Adding someone like Mike Wallace, Vincent Jackson or DeSean Jackson -- if they hit free agency -- could give the Bucs a piece they need even more.

We won’t know what the new Tampa Bay offense will look like until the Buccaneers take the field in September. But we can get a little bit of a preview by looking at what’s in offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan’s background.

Before he was hired by the Bucs, Sullivan was the quarterbacks coach for the New York Giants. That doesn’t mean Sullivan will run the exact same offense the Giants use, but it’s a pretty safe bet that his system will be similar because the New York way is what he knows.

Let’s turn to ESPN Stats & Information to take a look at some of the things Sullivan may borrow from the Giants. The first thing that jumps out at me when I look at New York’s numbers from last season is what the Giants did on passes of 21 yards or more downfield.

New York quarterback Eli Manning led the league with 1,403 yards on such throws and also had 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Manning also had a league-high 89 attempts of throws of 21 yards or more.

I think back to coach Greg Schiano’s introductory news conference in which he said several times he wanted an offense that takes shots downfield.

For the sake of comparison, Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman attempted only 34 deep throws last season. He completed only 12 of them (35.3 percent) for 393 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

There’s no question Freeman has the arm strength to get the ball downfield, and Sullivan is likely to emphasize that as he installs the offense. But Freeman will need his receivers to do a better job of getting separation.

I also would expect Sullivan to make frequent use of the shotgun offense. Freeman lined up in that formation 356 times last season and completed 64.6 percent of his passes. The Giants used the shotgun formation a little bit more as Manning attempted 364 passes. Manning’s completion percentage (60.2) wasn’t quite as good as Freeman’s. But Manning threw for 18 touchdowns out of the shotgun formation, while Freeman had only eight.

Play-action passing wasn’t a huge part of the Giants’ offense as Manning’s 101 attempts put him in the middle of the pack. Freeman had 89 attempts off play-action last season.

Screen passes were not a big part of the Giants’ offense. Manning attempted only 37 screens and completed 28 of them for 161 yards. Freeman completed 39 of 46 screens for 290 yards last season.

One area that really jumps out when looking at the Giants’ stats is receiving yardage after the catch. The Giants ranked No. 3 in the league with 2,136 yards after the catch. The Bucs were in the middle of the pack with 1,746 yards.

After looking at all this, it's pretty obvious the Bucs will need to make some adjustments to their personnel if they want this offense to truly resemble what the Giants do. They need to some receivers who can get open down the field. They also could use receivers (and a running back) that make things happen after the catch.

Here’s a pretty interesting item by Jonathan Bales from the DC Times. Bales ranks the top 20 offensive tackles in the NFL.

There’s only one NFC South tackle on the list and it’s probably not who most of you would name with your first guess. Or your second.

It’s Atlanta right tackle Tyson Clabo. Although he has a reputation for being a decent player, nobody has ever called Clabo elite. But that’s basically what Bales did by ranking Clabo as the No. 2 tackle in the NFL.

According to Bales, Clabo gave up quarterback pressures on just 1.4 percent of the snaps he took part in. That’s pretty impressive. It’s too bad the rest of Atlanta’s offensive line didn’t play like Clabo last season. The Falcons struggled with pass protection early in the season and there probably will be major changes on the offensive line this offseason. The biggest change could come at left tackle where Sam Baker entered last year as the starter. Baker got hurt and Will Svitek replaced him. When Baker was healthy again, the Falcons kept Svitek as the starter. There’s lots of speculation the Falcons will part ways with Baker and look for a new left tackle in free agency or the draft.

Going back to Bales’ list, I’m a little surprised that Carolina’s Jordan Gross and Tampa Bay’s Donald Penn didn’t make the top 20. Those are the two most scouts point to as the best tackles in the division.

Friday night’s hiring of Mike Sullivan as offensive coordinator is the biggest move Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano has made so far. Down the road, it could end up being his most important move ever.

Sullivan comes to the Buccaneers from the New York Giants, where he spent the past two seasons as quarterbacks coach and six seasons before that working with wide receivers. Sullivan never has been an NFL coordinator before and the Bucs talked to some experienced coordinators, like Ron Turner and John Shoop, before hiring Sullivan.

I initially thought the Bucs would bring in a coordinator who had handled that role on an NFL level before. Experience seemed to be a priority as the Bucs searched for someone to fix quarterback Josh Freeman and an offense that struggled last season.

But I’m thinking the Bucs went the right way when they chose Sullivan. He may not have coordinator’s experience, but he knows how to win. The Giants just won their second Super Bowl since Sullivan joined the team in 2004 and quarterback Eli Manning obviously has been playing at a high level.

Sullivan learned at the side of head coach Tom Coughlin and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and that can only be viewed as a positive. Sullivan also worked in Jacksonville in Coughlin's last two seasons there, so he has a pretty lengthy NFL history, even if he hasn't been a coordinator. Besides, it’s not like Shoop or Turner had enormous success in their previous stints as coordinators.

Taking a leap of faith and handing the offense to Sullivan might end up being a very good move for the Bucs. Schiano and Butch Davis, who is expected to join the team as a senior assistant and adviser, come from defensive backgrounds. But the Bucs also are putting some experience and insulation around Sullivan. They reportedly are adding longtime NFL assistant Jimmy Raye II as a senior offensive assistant.

Raye has been a coordinator before and he can help guide Sullivan. But, more importantly, the Bucs landed Sullivan, a coach who may have some fresh ideas and knows how to win.