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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had an exciting free-agency period and added a promising draft class, but I’m not so sure that means Raymond James Stadium will be packed in the 2012 season.

Most of you know the history. The Bucs have sold out only two home games in the past two seasons and most of you know that home games that aren't sold out aren't broadcast live locally.

You would think the addition of the free agents (Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks and Eric Wright), the draft class (highlighted by Mark Barron, Doug Martin and Lavonte David) and coach Greg Schiano would create some excitement in the Tampa Bay area. I live here and I sense there is some excitement, but I’m not sure that’s going to translate into instant sellouts. At the NFL owners meeting in March, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said the team had seen some growth in season-ticket sales after the free-agent signings. But Glazer wasn’t ready to predict that Tampa Bay would sell out most of its games. Glazer declined to say where Tampa Bay's season-ticket base stands.

Glazer might have been wise to hold back his optimism. There’s a less-than-encouraging report out about Tampa Bay’s economy. According to the quarterly Consumer Distress Index put out by the credit counseling agency CredAbility, no major metropolitan area is as stressed as Tampa Bay in the combined factors of job market, tight credit, household budget constraints, lower net worth and the job market.

Yes, Tampa Bay has moved ahead of Detroit. The Miami area also didn’t fare well in the report and that comes after there’s been talk about the Dolphins having problems selling season tickets. The Jacksonville Jaguars have struggled to sell tickets for several years. As a state, Florida ranks fifth in terms of financial distress for consumers.

The Jaguars, with Blaine Gabbert at quarterback, aren’t exactly an exciting team right now. Miami fans have griped about the team’s offseason, with the Dolphins coming up short in attempts to land Jeff Fisher as their coach and Peyton Manning as their quarterback.

The Bucs might have the most exciting – and potentially the best – team in Florida. But the lagging economy means the Bucs might not see big results at the box office.

The New Orleans Saints have announced only that assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Vitt will step into head coach Sean Payton’s role when Payton's season-long suspension begins Monday.

The team said Vitt will guide the team through its offseason program, training camp and the regular season. But Vitt will have to step aside at the start of the regular season to serve a six-game suspension for his role in the Saints’ bounty program. In the statement announcing the move, general manager Mickey Loomis said the Saints will make a decision on who will step into Vitt’s role as the start of the regular season gets closer.

But ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is expected to fill in for Vitt for those six games.

That probably makes the most sense of any of the possible scenarios. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael are the other two logical candidates. But keeping them in their current roles and letting Kromer handle supervisory duties might be the best way to work through the first six games.

Spagnulo previously was a head coach in St. Louis. But he is new to the Saints and is overhauling the defense. There could be other obstacles ahead for the defense, because multiple players could face suspensions for their roles in the bounty program. Spagnuolo will have his hands full just operating the defense.

Carmichael took over play-calling duties for the first time in his career last October, when Payton suffered knee and leg injuries in a sideline collision. Carmichael is viewed as an offensive guru, but comes across as quiet and shy, and might be better off just handling the offense instead of being asked to lead the whole team and handle media duties.

Kromer has a more outgoing personality. He’s also viewed as a rising star in coaching circles. Kromer reportedly was about to get an interview for the head coaching job with the St. Louis Rams before Jeff Fisher accepted the position.

New Orleans Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt and his attorney, David Cornwell, spoke briefly to the media after Vitt had a hearing on his appeal of a six-game suspension at the NFL offices in New York.

Vitt said he had a good meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We tried to make the point to the commissioner that the results on the field didn’t match the punishment,’’ Vitt told reporters.

Vitt didn’t have much else to say, but Cornwell certainly did. Cornwell suggested the blame should lie with former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and not Vitt. Cornwell also said that coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis went to Williams before last season’s playoff game with Detroit and told him “there’s no place for’’ a bounty program. Cornwell went on to describe Williams as “a rogue coach, who was about to get fired."

Cornwell said Williams had issues beyond the bounty program with other Saints’ employees. Cornwell said Williams was fired the next week after the Saints lost a playoff game to San Francisco. That doesn’t match up with the official word on Williams’ departure from New Orleans.

Immediately after the season ended, it was reported that Williams’ contract was up and he wanted to go join close friend Jeff Fisher with the St. Louis Rams. The Saints quickly hired former St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo as their defensive coordinator.

The other problem I have with Cornwell’s comments is the part about trying to make it sound like Vitt was in the clear once Payton and Loomis told Williams to stop the program. The NFL has said the bounty program went on for three full seasons and the Saints were told to stop it several times, but didn’t. So, if Payton and Loomis told Williams to stop the bounty program for his last two games with the Saints, should that clear everyone else?

I don’t think so. The NFL’s report on its investigation is very extensive and specifically mentions wrongdoing by Payton, Loomis, Vitt, middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma and other unnamed players over the course of three seasons. The NFL hasn't issued any punishment for players yet. Williams is the only coach or administrator who did not appeal his suspension.

There’s no doubt Williams deserves his indefinite suspension -- maybe even a permanent ban -- but I don’t think you can pin this whole thing on just one guy.

Gregg Williams, the man at the heart of the New Orleans Saints bounty program, has apologized a second time for his involvement.

The NFL said Williams, the former defensive coordinator for the Saints, orchestrated a bounty program that rewarded players for injuring opponents over the course of three seasons. Williams has been suspended indefinitely and the league said his status will be reviewed after a year.

Williams left the Saints soon after last season ended. He immediately joined Jeff Fisher’s staff in St. Louis as defensive coordinator.

In his statement, Williams said he hopes to return to coaching in the future. Here’s Williams’ statement:

"I'd like to again apologize wholeheartedly to the NFL, Coach Fisher, the entire Rams organization and all football fans for my actions. Furthermore, I apologize to the players of the NFL for my involvement as it is not a true reflection of my values as a father or coach, nor is it reflective of the great respect I have for this game and its core principle of sportsmanship. I accept full responsibility for my actions. I highly value the 23 years that I've spent in the NFL. I will continue to cooperate fully with the league and its investigation and I will focus my energies on serving as an advocate for both player safety and sportsmanship. I will do everything possible to re-earn the respect of my colleagues, the NFL and its players in hopes of returning to coaching in the future."

The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator Thursday, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

This is a big victory for the Saints because I’m pretty sure Spagnuolo is the guy Sean Payton had targeted for this job, probably even before previous coordinator Gregg Williams left for St. Louis and a reunion with Jeff Fisher after the Saints lost in the playoffs.

If you want a picture of a Spagnuolo defense, don’t think too much about the St. Louis team he had been the head coach of since 2009.

Think more of the New York Giants, when Spagnoulo was their defensive coordinator in 2007 and ’08. The Giants won the Super Bowl in the 2007 season. Prior to that, Spagnoulo had a long run as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, who played in four NFC Championship Games during his tenure. Spagnuolo worked for the Eagles from 1999 through 2006.

In short, his defense -- in theory -- is a lot like we’ve seen out of the Giants this postseason. It relies on a lot of pressure from the front four and not much blitzing. Spagnuolo prefers tall/angular cornerbacks that can play man-to-man coverage and also likes playmakers at safety.

Williams relied much more on the blitz than Spagnuolo typically has and the change in coordinators likely means there will be some changes in the defensive personnel.

Cornerbacks Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson probably can fit the Spagnuolo profile, but Tracy Porter, who can be a free agent, might not. Free safety Malcolm Jenkins has the potential to be a playmaker, but strong safety Roman Harper, who blitzed a lot under Williams, might not be a great fit because he’s not particularly strong in coverage.

Up front, the Saints will have to generate more of a pass rush. Will Smith is the team’s top defensive end, but he’ll turn 31 in July and is not coming off a good season. The Saints may look at Smith’s high cap figure and realize they can free up $6 million by cutting him. Cameron Jordan was a first-round pick in 2011 and showed he can play the run, but isn’t yet a prolific pass rusher. Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis can generate some push in the middle, but the Saints likely will have to add at least one strong pass rusher on the front four.

There also could be change at linebacker, but that probably was coming no matter what. Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma showed some signs of age last season and outside linebacker Scott Shanle turned 32 in November.

There’s some work to be done on the personnel front. But the Saints got the man they wanted to direct their defense.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton met with the media Tuesday and touched on a far-reaching variety of topics. Let’s run through the highlights.

“[Offensive line coach] Aaron Kromer last week had been requested for an interview with St. Louis and he had a brief meeting when we arrived in the Bay Area, but it was just when Jeff [Fisher] was accepting the position. [Offensive coordinator] Pete Carmichael had a request sent in by the Oakland Raiders -- they’ve not formally interviewed, so we’ll see what happens there with Pete.

On the overall season: “Well, I think your standards continue to get high and are high for what we want to accomplish and so I think just shortly after a loss like that it’s hard to maybe come up with a summary. Certainly there were a lot of good things about the season and yet you get that pit in your stomach with the way it ends, and so that’s difficult, having had a season where it ended with a win, where your last game was a win, you know what that’s like and for everyone else in the postseason that’s not the case. With that being said we aspire to win championships here. That’s our goal when the season starts, that’s our last goal -- win the division, put ourselves in the best position possible with seeding and win the Super Bowl -- we’ll continue to strive for that, that’s what we set out to do.’’

On the health of running back Pierre Thomas, who left the San Francisco game after taking a big hit: “Very good. At halftime, I saw him and it was a lot better than maybe I expected though, so he’s going to be just fine.’’

On a timetable for re-signing quarterback Drew Brees: “Well, that’s a good question. I don’t know. I think if that question were asked to [general manager] Mickey [Loomis] or Drew right now, I don’t think there would be any timetable. Certainly, the sooner the better and yet I think this time away here initially after the season ended will be good for everyone to kind of remove yourself from the emotion of the season and you know I think will be something that would certainly be on one of our priority list.’’

On if it was defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ decision to leave: ““Yeah, well, yeah. You’re talking about a guy he’s worked real close with for years (Jeff Fisher). We visited (Monday) and I think there were a lot of things looking at this move that didn’t surprise people. It was a matter of getting through the season, though, and not allowing it to be a distraction a week ago in the playoffs. We visited and spent some time on it and went from there. Our visit is between he and I.”

On what he’ll look for in a new defensive coordinator: “The real, real talented coaches come in all age groups and they come from all over. They come from college, they come from our league. Some have been head coaches, some haven’t. I just look back at my own experiences and someone gave me an opportunity for the first time. I think that you try to pay attention to all of those things. I think you do as much preparation and homework as you can on the candidates and spend as much time visiting with them, but I don’t think you try to profile.’’

I’m just looking at the latest on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching search and starting to wonder if the Bucs are trying to set some sort of record.

The latest is the Bucs will interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin and quarterbacks Tom Clements at some point soon. The Bucs are interviewing Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzkinski on Tuesday.

The Bucs previously interviewed former NFL head coaches Mike Sherman, Marty Schottenheimer and Brad Childress as well as Tennessee defensive coordinator Jerry Gray.

Check my math here, but assuming the Bucs do interview Clements and Philbin, that will bring the number of interviews to eight. And that also is assuming the media as reported every coach who has interviewed. We chase these things like crazy, but sometimes an interview or two can slip through the cracks. The Bucs also could decide to interview more candidates that are still involved in the playoffs. There’s been some speculation about New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell possibly being a candidate.

But, for now, the number will stand at eight, probably later this week. I seriously think that might be some kind of record. ESPN Stats & Information does a wonderful job, but does not keep numbers on how many candidates have interviewed for any given job throughout history.

I’ve been through a few coaching searches in my day. Generally speaking, most teams interview three or four candidates and I think five is the highest number I’ve ever seen.

But I’m not seeing any huge drawback with Tampa Bay’s methodical approach. Indications are, the Bucs could narrow their list and bring back a few candidates for second interviews. That makes it sound like we might not see a hire for at least another week.

Assistant coaches are being hired all over the league and the Bucs may be missing out on some good candidates. But there still are lots of other assistants available. The East-West Shrine Game is this week and the Senior Bowl is next week.

Ideally, you’d like to have your full coaching staff in place for those two events, so the coaches can get a good look at the college prospects. But any assistant that’s available will be at the Senior Bowl and will be watching players on their own.

Besides, the coaching staffs aren’t the ones who do the bulk of the work at the college all-star games. The scouting staff does that.

Yeah, there comes a point when coaches need to start evaluating the current roster and getting ready for free agency. But, as long as Tampa Bay has its staff in place by the end of the month, there’s plenty of time for that.

I know a lot of Tampa Bay fans are looking at the candidates and saying there’s no one with a “wow factor." That’s true, but was there anybody with a “wow factor’’ out there to begin with? Maybe Jeff Fisher, who ended up in St. Louis. But Fisher is a good, but not tremendous coach and his stock was elevated in a year when Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy and a few other big names refused to join the league-wide candidate pool.

The Bucs aren’t going for the “wow factor" and there’s nothing wrong with that. The deliberate approach might be the right thing. Maybe the Bucs will get a coach who is the right fit. Then, two years down the road or so, maybe fans will say “wow’’ at what that guy has done.

The New Orleans Saints could lose more than one coordinator.

Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael reportedly will interview for the job as head coach of the Oakland Raiders. That comes after defensive coordinator Gregg Williams left to join Jeff Fisher with the St. Louis Rams.

I don’t think there was a strong attempt by the Saints to keep Williams, whose contract expired at the end of the season. That’s because Williams’ defense had struggled since after the team’s Super Bowl championship in the 2009 season.

But I don’t think Carmichael is a guy the Saints want to lose. He’s a favorite of quarterback Drew Brees, and the two worked together in San Diego. Carmichael also is highly thought of by New Orleans coach Sean Payton.

After Payton suffered a broken leg in a midseason game at Tampa Bay, he let Carmichael take over play-calling duties. Even after Payton’s leg healed, he let Carmichael continue to call the plays.

Around the league, Carmichael is viewed as an intellectual. But he also has a very quiet public demeanor. When interviewing with the media, Carmichael comes across as shy and guarded.

Those traits could work against him with other teams. But they could work in Carmichael’s favor with the Raiders, who have always been known for operating very quietly.

This isn’t a huge surprise, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is expected to leave the Saints and join Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.

Williams worked for Fisher in Tennessee and the two are close friends. Williams’ contract with New Orleans is expiring and there had been speculation he would join Fisher. Williams joined the Saints in 2009 and his trademark opportunistic defense came up with lots of turnovers as New Orleans won the Super Bowl that season.

But Williams’ defense wasn’t able to produce turnovers at anywhere near the same rate in 2010 or 2011. The Saints’ defense collapsed late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s playoff loss to San Francisco. If Williams hadn’t already made a decision on his future, the two late touchdowns scored by the 49ers might have sealed his fate. I never got the sense Williams and head coach Sean Payton were especially close and Payton might have been looking to make a change after what happened Saturday.

Schefter reports that New Orleans already has a short list of potential replacements -- former Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo and Miami defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Those two also have been mentioned as potential defensive coordinators in Atlanta.

Even with the season over, we could see the Falcons and Saints battling over defensive coordinators.

Since we had a lot on the Saints on Saturday -- and I’ll be coming back with more on their playoff loss to San Francisco later Sunday -- let’s take a quick break from New Orleans and look at what’s going on around the rest of the NFC South.

The Atlanta Falcons plan to talk to Green Bay quarterbacks coach Tom Clements and former Jacksonville offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter about their vacant position at offensive coordinator. Either of these guys would be a good fit. Clements has been a hot name around the league because Green Bay and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have had so much success in recent years. Jacksonville didn’t have a lot of offensive success in 2011, but Koetter is viewed as one of the league’s better coordinators. This is going to be a huge hire for the Falcons. They have to get a guy that can figure out how to get their very talented offense to achieve.

The Panthers reportedly have hired Steve Wilks as their secondary coach. Makes sense on several levels. Wilks is a Charlotte native and he worked with head coach Ron Rivera in San Diego. Wilks will replace Ron Meeks, who was not retained after three seasons in Carolina.

Scott Fowler compares the rookie season of Carolina quarterback Cam Newton to some of the best rookie seasons in NFL history. He concludes Newton had the best rookie season ever, ahead of some really big names. I can’t say I disagree with my friend and former co-worker.

While reflecting on the season and looking ahead to 2012, Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the Falcons will be looking for some “battling souls." In other words, he thinks his team needs to get tougher. I think that’s especially true on defense, where the Falcons have some good talent, but lack a real identity.

Gary Shelton writes that it’s not a good sign that Wade Phillips and Jeff Fisher wouldn’t interview with the Buccaneers for their job as head coach. There’s some truth in that and you have to at least wonder if they were scared off by a team that hasn’t spent a lot of money on free agents in recent years. But Phillips’ situation was unique because the Texans went out of their way to make it attractive for him to stay in Houston. As far as Fisher, a lot of people thought he was the best coach available, but I don’t think the Bucs ever had that opinion and weren’t really chasing him. I know a lot of people are starting to laugh at the Bucs’ coaching search. But I think there’s something to be said for being thorough. They’re not rushing into anything. They’re looking for the best fit for their organization. If they figure out who that guy is, then their process will look good.

Drew Brees is capable of many great things. But you can’t go to the miracle well 63 times in a game and expect it to produce every time.

That was proved Saturday as Brees and the New Orleans Saints lost 36-32 in a divisional playoff game to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

History will tell us this was one of the best games in playoff annals, coming as it did with four lead changes in the final 5 minutes and San Francisco’s winning touchdown with 9 seconds remaining. History will be right, because this game was exciting all the way around.

But the surrounding hysteria might get in the way of history, so let’s go ahead and go on the record with one very important item that cannot be overlooked: You can’t go deep into the postseason with Brees and Brees alone.

That’s what the Saints tried to do, and it came painfully close to working. They had Brees attempt 63 passes. He completed 40 of them, and it looked like he had the miracle the Saints needed when he hit tight end Jimmy Graham with a 66-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left.

But football -- particularly when it’s in the postseason and on the road -- is about much more than a quarterback, even if he’s surrounded with Graham, Darren Sproles and Marques Colston.

You must have defense, special teams and a running game. The Saints had none of those things against the 49ers, and that’s why they lost.

They simply asked too much from Brees, and they should have known better.

Just go back and look at New Orleans’ three losses during the regular season. There’s a little lesson here.

In the opener at Lambeau Field, Brees attempted 49 passes -- a number that would end up as his regular-season high. He lost a shootout to Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, and there’s no shame in that. But look closely at the Saints' other two losses, because they came against inferior opponents. In an Oct. 16 defeat to Tampa Bay, the last game the Buccaneers won, Brees attempted 45 passes.

Oh, and then there’s that inexplicable loss to St. Louis two weeks later. Brees attempted 44 passes in that game. Win either the St. Louis or Tampa Bay game, and the Saints are the No. 2 seed and playing at home, where they were undefeated in the regular season.

There’s a line of demarcation where too much Brees becomes a bad thing. It’s somewhere in the low 40s. Yeah, Brees threw 44 times in victories against Houston and Jacksonville, 45 times in a three-point win over Carolina and 47 in a December victory against Tennessee. But none of those was pretty, and Houston was the only playoff team among that bunch.

In games in which Brees attempted 43 or fewer passes, the Saints were 8-0. They also were at their best in those games. They had a running game, some defense and no huge mistakes by the special teams.

But the Saints apparently didn’t notice that trend. They put too much on Brees on Saturday, and they did have some valid reasons for that. Brees didn’t help matters with two interceptions, and the Saints turned the ball over three times in the first quarter.

They fell behind 17-0. Then, they let Brees bring them back but didn’t do anything to help him. The running game, which had been so much better than last season’s, was nonexistent. Sproles, Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas combined for only 13 rushing attempts and 32 yards.

Thomas left the game with an apparent concussion after losing a fumble near the goal line in the first quarter. Without him, the New Orleans offense became predictable. When Ivory was in the game, it was obvious the Saints were running. When Sproles was in there, it was obvious they were throwing.

And they threw way too often against a defense that can generate pressure. On his 63 drop-backs, Brees was sacked three times. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brees was under duress an additional 17 times. When under duress, Brees completed five of 16 attempts (31.3 percent). Brees also threw away five passes after throwing away only eight during the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs.

Again, there should have been a lesson from the regular season. The most times Brees was sacked or under duress (17) was in the St. Louis loss. Against Green Bay, Brees was sacked or under duress on 12 of his drop-backs.

The more often you have Brees drop back, the more you’re asking for trouble, especially when you have two All-Pros at guard but very ordinary tackles.

However, the biggest letdown of all came from the defense. It happened twice after Brees brought the Saints all the way back to take the lead.

The New Orleans defense was pretty good in the 2009 championship season, but it’s fallen off dramatically since then. After doing a decent job against the 49ers most of the game, it totally collapsed in the final four minutes.

The Saints allowed Alex Smith to score on a 28-yard run, the longest of his career. No one should ever confuse the slow-footed Smith with Steve Young. But now, in addition to Young, he’s going to get compared to Joe Montana.

After the late touchdown to Graham, Smith took the 49ers on a drive for the ages. He hit tight end Vernon Davis with a 14-yard touchdown pass to win the game with 9 seconds left. Matched up against strong safety Roman Harper most of the game, Davis finished with seven catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

The Saints should have known going into the game that Harper on Davis was a huge mismatch, but they kept letting it happen and they kept making Smith look great when it mattered most.

This game showed what’s been suspected since after the Saints won their Super Bowl. Their defense isn’t that good anymore.

That’s obvious now, and there are bound to be ripples, maybe even big waves, after this loss. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ contract just expired, and there already has been speculation he could be joining his old buddy Jeff Fisher in St. Louis. Coach Sean Payton, who once gave up part of his own salary to get Williams, might not stand in the way of a move after this one.

It’s going to be a busy offseason for the Saints. They must sign Brees to a new contract because his deal is up. The Saints have other expensive potential free agents such as Colston and guard Carl Nicks.

There’s no doubt the Saints will keep Brees and, in the process, probably make him the league’s highest-paid quarterback. But as they look at their salary-cap situation after taking care of Brees, they should take a long, hard look at their roster.

It’s time for some changes. You can do all sorts of flashy things and break lots of records by letting Brees carry your team. But he can win a championship only when he has some help around him.

It’s time to give Brees that help.

Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints’ 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday at Candlestick Park.

What it means: You can’t defy conventional wisdom. In a game that will go down as a postseason classic, the Saints broke almost every rule and tradition. But they still lost in the end, as tight end Vernon Davis scored a touchdown with 9 seconds remaining. That capped a game that had four lead changes in the final 3 minutes, 53 seconds. The Saints came painfully close to proving they could win on the road, outdoors and in the postseason. They almost showed you can turn the ball over five times and still win. They also came close to proving wrong the old adage that defense wins championships. But there were no miracles this time.

What I liked: The game was as exciting as any you’ll ever see. It had drama and surprises from start to finish. San Francisco jumped out to a 17-0 lead at home, but Drew Brees rallied his team and put the Saints right back in the game. New Orleans’ defense played surprisingly well most of the day, right up until the end.

What I didn’t like: New Orleans’ defense folded when it mattered most. Alex Smith, who has never been confused with Tim Tebow, broke loose on a fourth-quarter touchdown run. Then, after Brees put the Saints ahead with a touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham, the defense collapsed again. Smith, who had been considered a bust for most of his career, brought back memories of Steve Young and Joe Montana with his game-winning drive. Davis abused strong safety Roman Harper most of the day, and he did it again when it mattered most.

What’s next: An offseason that’s starting sooner than expected for the Saints. There are some key personnel matters to deal with. Brees is no longer under contract. He undoubtedly will return to the Saints, but he’s going to take up a lot of salary-cap room. With Marques Colston, Carl Nicks and several other key players scheduled to become free agents, the Saints will have to make some big decisions. They also could have change on the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ contract is expiring, and there is speculation he could be joining his old friend Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.

Now that we know Jeff Fisher is headed for the St. Louis Rams, I’m going to go ahead and kick the NFC South chat off early.

We’re scheduled to roll at 4 p.m. ET, but I’m going to head to the chat room now.

I don’t think Fisher ever was a candidate to land in Tampa Bay, but we can talk about the many coaches who are in the mix for that one. We also can talk about Saturday’s playoff game between the Saints and 49ers, Atlanta’s search for two new coordinators and what Carolina might do if offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski lands a job as a head coach.

Here’s the link to get you to the chat. I’ll see you there.

Although the New Orleans Saints have been the division’s most successful team this season, their assistant coaches hadn’t been getting as much attention as members of other staffs.

Jacksonville hired Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey as its head coach and Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has received some attention.

New Orleans’ assistant coaches had not been tied to any of the vacancies for head coaches. But that has changed.

New Orleans offensive line coach Aaron Kromer reportedly will interview with the St. Louis Rams. If the Rams don’t get Jeff Fisher, don’t rule out the possibility of Kromer landing this job.

He has a solid résumé. As I mentioned Tuesday, New Orleans’ offensive line is considered one of the best in the league. Plus, Kromer’s job title with the Saints also says he’s in charge of supervising the running game. The fact that Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Chris Ivory have combined to give the Saints a strong running game this year only adds to Kromer’s reputation.

Before joining the Saints, Kromer worked with Tampa Bay’s offensive line.

Just when it seemed like the Carolina Panthers would not lose offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, he’s been tied to another job as a head coach.

The St. Louis Rams reportedly have asked the Panthers for permission to interview Chudzinski. Jeff Fisher is believed to be the Rams’ top choice, but the team is waiting for him to make a decision and wants other options in case Fisher ends up elsewhere.

Chudzinski previously interviewed for the Jacksonville job, but that went to Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.

Chudzinski joined Carolina’s staff in 2011 and, in his first season as an NFL coordinator, worked wonders with rookie Cam Newton and installed a scheme that helped make the Panthers one of the league’s top offenses.