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

• After San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith downplayed Cam Newton’s stats, Carolina linebacker Jon Beason defended his quarterback. Beason took to Twitter with a message for Smith. Beason said Smith would have been looking for a job if Peyton Manning had signed with San Francisco.

• Kellen Winslow, who was traded away by Tampa Bay on Monday night, said he can breathe in Seattle. He said things were getting a little stuffy in Tampa, where he and new coach Greg Schiano had some philosophical differences.

• New Orleans coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is installing a defense that won’t feature as many all-out blitzes as the Saints used in recent years. But safety Malcolm Jenkins said that doesn’t mean the Saints will be any less aggressive on defense.

• New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said backup quarterback Chase Daniel has been stepping up and taking a leadership role with Drew Brees not participating in organized team activities.

• The Sporting News ranks the 32 NFL head coaches and there is not an NFC South coach in the top 14. Suspended New Orleans coach Sean Payton isn’t included in the rankings, but his replacement, Joe Vitt, is. New Orleans fans, who have been a bit sensitive lately, aren’t going to be happy when they see where Vitt was ranked.

Drew Brees and Darren Sharper aren’t teammates anymore, but the former New Orleans safety went to bat for the Saints quarterback in this interview with WWL Radio’s Bobby Hebert.

“It still baffles me every day I wake up and I don’t see, on the bottom line, a new contract for Drew Brees,'' Sharper said. "I’m just confused as to why the guy that has led this organization has not been given a contract extension so he can be on board for years to come. ... You just have never seen this happen to a franchise quarterback and Drew is a franchise quarterback in every sense of the word. Have you ever heard of Tom Brady going through a contract, stalled talks that have taken this long. Peyton Manning? Aaron Rodgers? Philip Rivers? ... None of these guys have ever had to deal with a franchise tag and had to play out the last year of their contract and then go into the offseason.”

Sharper has a point. Brees has done a lot for the Saints and for the New Orleans area. You may see a guy like Manning or Brett Favre getting pushed out near the end of their careers. But Manning ended up with a great deal in Denver after parting ways with the Colts. Favre went on to have productive time with the Jets and Vikings after he and the Packers parted ways. But Brees isn’t at the end of his career. He has at least five more good years left in him and it's not like the Saints are eager to hand his job to Chase Daniel.

At the moment, Brees is in any conversation about the league’s best quarterback. He’s right there with Rodgers and Brady (and Manning, if you want to include him for lifetime achievements) and Brees is a notch or two above Rivers.

Sharper may be right when he says we’ve never seen a quarterback of Brees’ magnitude let his contract run out and have to go through lengthy negotiations in an effort to get a new deal.

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.

Last season, Peyton Manning was supposed to make a tour of the NFC South.

That was supposed to include a rare sellout and prime-time game at Raymond James Stadium and Manning’s return to New Orleans, the city where he grew up and where his family is royalty. There also were supposed to be games with Manning going against Carolina and Atlanta. But none of that happened.

Manning missed all of last season with a neck injury and the Indianapolis Colts suddenly became very mediocre without their quarterback.

Manning left the Colts and signed with the Denver Broncos. All reports indicate he’s been working out and throwing the football very well. That’s great news for the Broncos, but not necessarily good news for the NFC South.

That’s because Manning and the Broncos, who made the playoffs last season with Tim Tebow and a great defense, are schedule to play each of the four NFC South teams.

Let’s take a look at Manning’s schedule games against the NFC South:

Sept. 17, Denver at Atlanta: It’s the home opener for the Falcons and this is a Monday night game. The good news is that Manning still might be adjusting to the Denver offense or perhaps, more accurately, the Broncos still might be trying to pick up Manning’s offense. But you know Manning’s going to be ready to make an impact in a nationally televised game. New Atlanta defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is bringing a new scheme and attitude. It better be clicking by Week 2.

Oct. 28, New Orleans at Denver: The Saints face a season of uncertainty, but one thing is for sure. Joe Vitt will be making his debut as interim head coach in this Sunday night game. Vitt will be suspended for the first six games of the season and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is expected to supervise the team. The biggest unknown hanging out there is if the Saints will have players suspended for their role in the bounty program. If so, it’s possible they could be back by this game and new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will have had time to put his stamp on the defense. Any Manning-led offense is going to be productive. But the good news is, as long as quarterback Drew Brees gets his contract situation resolved, the New Orleans offense should be able to score enough to stay with any team.

Nov. 11, Denver at Carolina: Manning is one of the best quarterbacks ever and this matchup with Cam Newton could put him up against the league’s next great quarterback. Carolina’s defense should be better than it was a year ago and it will need to be if the Panthers are going to have any chance at giving former coach John Fox an unpleasant homecoming.

Dec. 2, Tampa Bay at Denver: By this late in the season, the Bucs will have had a chance to develop an identity. They’ll need to be much better on both sides of the ball to have any shot at staying with Manning and the Broncos.

Breakdown: The Bucs will make only one appearance in a nationally televised prime-time game (Oct. 25 at Minnesota) -- to be expected for a team coming off a 4-12 season. But that might be good news for new coach Greg Schiano and his squad because the Bucs won’t get a lot of attention and could sneak up on some opponents.

Tampa Bay catches an early break, opening at home for the fourth consecutive year. That game comes Sept. 9, against Carolina. The contest should give us an early indication of which NFC South team coming off a losing season could be on the rise.

The Bucs have a chance to get off to a fast start. Three of their first four games come against teams that didn’t have winning records and didn’t make the playoffs last season. The big exception is the Sept. 16 game -- on the road against the defending champion New York Giants. The Bucs have a Week 5 bye, followed by a home game with Kansas City before the schedule starts looking difficult. By then, the Bucs might be getting used to their new coaching staff and offensive and defensive schemes.

Complaint department: Unlike Atlanta, which doesn’t have to travel in back-to-back weeks all season, the Bucs face consecutive road games in two instances. One comes in September, at the Giants and at Dallas. There also are back-to-back road games at Minnesota and Oakland in the middle of the season. The first time shouldn’t be all that difficult, but the second round of trips involves much longer flights. On the bright side, the Bucs aren’t likely to face many cold-weather games. We all know Tampa Bay’s history when playing in the cold isn’t that pretty. Indeed, there are only two potential cold-weather games on the schedule. The first is Nov. 18 at Carolina; the weather in Charlotte can go either way at that time of year. The Dec. 2 game in Denver isn’t likely to be played in balmy weather, and the thought of defending against Peyton Manning doesn’t bring warm thoughts to anyone.

Raheem’s return: The Sept. 30 game with the Washington Redskins will be a homecoming for Raheem Morris. He spent three seasons coaching the Buccaneers but was fired after losing his final 10 games last season. Morris is now Washington’s defensive backs coach. That’s appropriate because Morris is at his best when he’s coaching just the secondary. He’s a nice guy, but the Bucs made him their head coach long before he was ready and it didn’t work. Morris needs to coach defensive backs for a year or two and move up to a defensive coordinator job for a bit. A few years from now, he might be seasoned enough to become a good head coach.

Buccaneers Regular-Season Schedule (All times ET)
Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 9, Carolina, 4:15 PM
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 16, at NY Giants, 1:00 PM
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 23, at Dallas, 1:00 PM
Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 30, Washington, 4:15 PM
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 14, Kansas City, 1:00 PM
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 21, New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 8: Thursday, Oct. 25, at Minnesota, 8:20 PM
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 4, at Oakland, 4:05 PM
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 11, San Diego, 1:00 PM
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 18, at Carolina, 1:00 PM
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 25, Atlanta, 1:00 PM
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 2, at Denver, 4:05 PM
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 9, Philadelphia, 1:00 PM
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 16, at New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 23, St. Louis, 1:00 PM
Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 30, at Atlanta, 1:00 PM

Breakdown: The Panthers haven’t played a prime-time game since playing Pittsburgh in a dismal 2010 season. But the days of flying under the radar are over. The Panthers will appear in two nationally televised games this season, and they’re both good ones. They’ll host the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in a Thursday night game Sept. 20, and they’ll play a Monday night game at Philadelphia on Nov. 26.

That can be traced to the star power that comes with second-year quarterback Cam Newton. Pitting him against Eli Manning and Michael Vick should attract lots of attention. We already know Newton and the Carolina offense are good. If the Panthers can just play a little defense, that Philadelphia game and the December contests could be very meaningful.

The NFL is giving the Panthers a good opportunity to get off to a fast start. Four of their first six games will be played at Bank of America Stadium.

Complaint department: The Panthers open their season with two NFC South opponents -- on the road at Tampa Bay and at home with New Orleans. They also have a Sept. 30 game at Atlanta, meaning three of their first four games will be against divisional opponents. I don’t mind seeing a divisional game in the first month of the season. But three in the first four weeks? Seems a little excessive. But, hey, at least we’ll find out pretty quickly whether the Panthers have any chance to win the NFC South.

Fox’s return: The Nov. 11 game against Denver has lots of storylines. Peyton Manning will be coming to town, and the matchup between him and Newton is a good one. But there’s one thing that could overshadow even Manning and Newton that week. That’s the return of Denver coach John Fox. He was the best coach in Carolina history, but his tenure didn’t end well. That will give Fox motivation to have the Broncos ready, and the Panthers will have plenty to motivate them because Fox didn’t part on the best of terms with everyone in the building, including some people in very high places.

Panthers Regular-Season Schedule (All times ET)
Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 9, at Tampa Bay, 4:15 PM
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 16, New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 3: Thursday, Sept. 20, N.Y. Giants, 8:20 PM
Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 30, at Atlanta, 1:00 PM
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 7, Seattle, 4:05 PM
Week 6: BYE
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 21, Dallas, 1:00 PM
Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 28, at Chicago, 1:00 PM
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 4, at Washington, 1:00 PM
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 11, Denver, 1:00 PM
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 18, Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 12: Monday, Nov. 26, at Philadelphia, 8:30 PM
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 2, at Kansas City, 1:00 PM
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 9, Atlanta, 1:00 PM
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 16, at San Diego, 4:05 PM
Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 23, Oakland, 1:00 PM
Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 30, at New Orleans, 1:00 PM

I just finished reading through the very lengthy and detailed release the NFL sent out to announce the penalties imposed on the New Orleans Saints for their bounty program.

My initial reaction?

The penalties are extremely severe and pretty much unprecedented in the NFL. Head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for a year. General manager Mickey Loomis is suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season, and assistant head coach Joe Vitt will be suspended for the first six games. The Saints also lost second-round draft picks for this year and next year.

But I can’t say I’m surprised or that the penalties are unfair.

This is Roger Goodell’s NFL, and that’s the bottom line in what will go down as one of the biggest scandals in NFL history. In his tenure as commissioner, Goodell has made lots of noise about the importance of player safety. He made his loudest noise ever Wednesday when he handed down the discipline for the Saints (as well as suspending former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely). Maybe a bounty program 20 or 30 years ago wouldn’t have been a big deal. But this isn’t the NFL of 20 or 30 years ago.

It’s obvious that the league wanted to make a statement on this one. The NFL has a very smart and seasoned public relations department. If the commissioner and his top assistants wanted this one to get lost in the shuffle, they had their chance. They could have announced it late last week when the NCAA tournament was cranking up. Or they could have done it Monday or Tuesday when Peyton Manning was dominating the headlines.

But Goodell and the NFL waited until Wednesday, and that puts the Saints firmly on center stage. Goodell’s comments in the release were about as strong as you’ll see from a league that usually goes out of its way to portray everything as rosy.

“Beyond the clear and continuing violations of league rules, and lying to investigators, the bounty program is squarely contrary to the league’s most important initiatives -- enhancing player health and safety and protecting the integrity of the game,” Goodell said. “Let me be clear. There is no place in the NFL for deliberately seeking to injure another player, let alone offering a reward for doing so. Any form of bounty is incompatible with our commitment to create a culture of sportsmanship, fairness and safety. Programs of this kind have no place in our game, and we are determined that bounties will no longer be a part of the NFL.”

Goodell also was sending a strong message to the other 31 teams. But he made an example out of the Saints. That’s mainly because the Saints set themselves up to become an example.

According to the league, Payton and Loomis were aware that a bounty program existed and rewarded defensive players for injuring opponents. The report even details some specific targets of bounties -- Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, and Kurt Warner. The league says Payton and Loomis did nothing to stop the bounties that went on for three seasons and the coach lied to league investigators and instructed his assistants to do the same.

There’s one particular item in the announcement that gives some in-depth insight into how the Saints were operating.

“Coach Vitt said one of his primary roles was to monitor the activity of Coach Williams,’’ the report says. “This was based on the direction of Coach Payton, who apparently had less than full confidence in Coach Williams. Despite Coach Vitt’s knowledge of the bounty program, his understanding of the terms 'knock-out' and 'cart-off,' his witnessing Coach Williams handing out envelopes that he believed to contain cash, and his acknowledgement that the defensive meeting preceding the 2010 NFC Championship Game may have 'got out of hand' with respect to Brett Favre."

Wow, the league is even peeling off the cover of what wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret around the NFL. Payton hired Williams in 2009 because he needed to make his defense better. It was pretty well known that Payton made the move despite the fact he and Williams weren’t the best of friends. But they coexisted for three seasons and won a Super Bowl in their first year together.

Does the Super Bowl make all this worthwhile?

I’m not so sure. The Saints have a real mess on their hands. You could say Payton should have stayed true to himself and never hired Williams, who the league says was the mastermind of the whole bounty program. But it’s kind of useless to waste time on hindsight.

The Saints have to move forward, and that’s not going to be easy. In addition to the actions already announced, the Saints likely will have multiple defensive players suspended for part of the 2012 season.

Goodell has put the Saints in their place for messing with the integrity of the game. He also has sent a message to them (and to other teams) that he really is the boss.

But the Saints are suddenly left without the guys who’ve been running the show since 2006. Payton’s suspension begins April 1, and Loomis isn’t going to be allowed to be involved with the team until midway through next season. Owner Tom Benson was not implicated for doing anything wrong by the league.

Benson suddenly faces a huge challenge. He’s got to decide if he’s going to fill Payton’s spot with one of the assistants currently on staff or look outside for a head coach. (Where do you find a head coach at this time of year?) Benson also has to decide who’s going to make personnel decisions in Loomis’ absence.

Benson’s reputation in New Orleans has improved quite a bit in recent years. Agreeing to keep the team in New Orleans for the long term and winning a Super Bowl will do that for you. The Saints are more popular and beloved than they’ve ever been.

It’s up to Benson to find a way to keep them there. He can start by making sure quarterback Drew Brees, who saved a city and a franchise once, gets signed to a long-term contract very soon. Brees may have to do it all over again. But it's up to Benson to finish the job by putting good people in the places of Payton and Loomis.

Most importantly, it's up to Benson to make sure his entire organization plays by Goodell’s rules.

Time for a look at the Wednesday morning headlines from around the NFC South.

Tampa Bay cornerback Aqib Talib has had his trial on an assault charge in Texas moved back to April 14. It had been scheduled for next week. Talib could face prison time if convicted, but the Bucs should know his fate before the NFL draft later in April.

In yet another sign that the Carolina Panthers really are intent on using newly-signed Mike Tolbert at fullback, Jerome Felton has signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Felton was Carolina’s fullback most of last year.

The Atlanta Falcons are suing eight of their former players in an attempt to get them to litigate workers compensation claims in Georgia instead of California.

Mike Triplett writes that Peyton Manning and the Broncos working out a contract so quickly is proof that the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees could do the same. He’s right. But I think Brees and the Saints will continue to play this one out slowly. There’s no pending deadline and no big sense of urgency. Both sides are trying to get the best deal possible from their individual perspectives.

The Panthers had four representatives at North Carolina’s pro day on Tuesday and presumably they were keeping a close watch on defensive end Quinton Coples. He’s viewed as a top-10 talent and the most athletic pass-rusher in the draft. Carolina’s picking No. 9 and may have a bigger need at defensive tackle. But it’s tough to pass on a talented pass-rusher and the Panthers have to do their homework on Coples.

Peyton Manning could have some company from the NFC South in Denver.

Cornerback Tracy Porter reportedly will visit with the Broncos on Wednesday, according to AFC West colleague Bill Williamson.

The Denver trip will come after Porter completes a visit with the Tennessee Titans. Porter reportedly already visited the Cincinnati Bengals, and there have been reports saying the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams have shown interest.

Porter, 25, has spent most of the past four seasons as a starter for the New Orleans Saints. But the Saints, who are dealing with a tight salary-cap situation, don’t appear to have a big interest in re-signing Porter.

They’re set with Jabari Greer as one starter, and the Saints have used draft picks on Patrick Robinson and Johnny Patrick the past two years.

There obviously has been quite a bit of hysteria, probably all around the world, about Peyton Manning signing with the Denver Broncos.

But, as Jeff Duncan points out, there might not be anyone happier about Manning’s deal than Drew Brees.

The New Orleans quarterback is currently carrying the franchise tag because he and the team couldn’t come to a long-term deal before the start of free agency. There were reports that the Saints had offered a deal that averaged $18.5 million a season and reports that Brees countered with $23 million.

The five-year deal Manning got with the Broncos is worth $96 million. That’s an average of $19.2 million, which sets a new bar that gives Manning the highest average salary of any quarterback.

Tom Condon is Manning’s agent. He also is Brees’ agent. Condon’s one of the top agents in the business and I think he can point to Manning’s contract whenever he talks with the Saints next. He can point to the fact Brees is healthier and younger than Manning. I think you could also make a very strong case that Brees is a better quarterback than Manning at this stage of their respective careers.

I’m not sure if Condon and Brees will get the full $23-million average. But Manning’s deal certainly could be a steppingstone toward that number.

All the division bloggers were asked to take part in a project in which we looked at potential landing spots for Tim Tebow, now that Peyton Manning is Denver’s quarterback.

When it came to the NFC South, I didn’t see much of a chance of Tebow landing with any of the four teams. I put the New Orleans Saints in the “low probability’’ category.

Here’s the quick synopsis I wrote on the Saints: It's hard to imagine because the Saints have Drew Brees at quarterback. But coach Sean Payton has such an innovative offensive mind that he could probably come up with a way to get Tebow on the field for a few plays a game.

I’ll elaborate a little more here and specify that I really don’t see Payton viewing Tebow as a quarterback. But Payton is creative enough that he could find ways to work him in as a tight end, H-back, fullback or, occasionally, as a running back. But all that is a very long shot. The Broncos are likely to want a draft pick for Tebow. I don’t think the Saints want to be parting with draft picks right now.

I put the Panthers, Falcons and Buccaneers in the “no chance’’ category and that’s basically because I believe there’s absolutely no chance any of them would be interested in Tebow.

Here’s what I wrote on Atlanta: The Falcons are set with Matt Ryan for the next decade or so. They don't use any gimmicks in their offense and they don't want to take the ball out of Ryan's hands.

Here’s what I had on Carolina: The Panthers have one of the league's top young quarterbacks in Cam Newton. They're hoping they don't have to look for another quarterback for another 12 to 15 years.

Here’s what I had on Tampa Bay: From a business standpoint, it might make some sense for a franchise that struggles to sell tickets to bring Tebow back to Florida. From a football standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense. New coach Greg Schiano and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan plan to run a conventional offense. They've already got a drop-back passer in Josh Freeman and they don't want to cause any headaches for a player who needs to bounce back from a rough 2011 season if he really is going to be their franchise quarterback.

I really don’t have anything more to add on what I said in relation to the Falcons and Panthers. On the Buccaneers, I’ll just say, I can see Tebow back in Florida, but it would be either with the Dolphins or Jaguars.

Peyton Manning's joining the Denver Broncos might have a bigger impact than you realize on the NFC South.

That’s because all four NFC South teams will play the Broncos next season. There’s little doubt the Broncos are about to get a lot better in the passing game, and they already have a good defense. The move suddenly makes the Broncos and the entire AFC West better. With Denver and San Diego already pretty good and the possibility of Oakland and Kansas City improving, it’s pretty much a given that this isn’t going to be a repeat of 2010 when the NFC South was matched up with what was then a very weak NFC West. In that season, NFC South records got inflated (Tampa Bay went 10-6 and Atlanta was 13-3) in large part because they got some freebie wins against the NFC West.

We won’t know the schedule dates until April, but we already know where those games will be. New Orleans and Tampa Bay will have to play in Denver. We know the Saints aren’t always good in outdoor stadiums and their pass-happy offense could be slowed even more if the game is late in the season and the weather is rough. It’s kind of a similar story for Tampa Bay if its game in Denver is late in the season, because the Bucs historically have struggled in cold weather.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup between Denver and the NFC South will come when John Fox returns to Bank of America Stadium to coach against his former team. By that time, Fox might not be the only familiar face returning to Charlotte. As I said before, I could see Fox trading with Carolina to get either DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart as a new toy for Manning out of the backfield. The Falcons also will play a home game against Denver, and I’m sure new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is already thinking about some schemes to deal with Manning.

Let's take a look at the top Saturday morning headlines from around the NFC South.

New Orleans guard Carl Nicks didn’t sound optimistic about his chances of returning to the Saints in this radio interview. He said the Saints seem to want to go in another direction. Nicks knows more about what has or hasn’t happened in talks so far. But I wouldn’t count Nicks out of New Orleans just yet. There’s still time for something to get done and sometimes things can change quickly when there is a sense of urgency.

Roddy White weighed in on the Saints’ bounty scandal. Surprisingly, the often-outspoken Atlanta receiver didn’t say anything controversial.

The Saints reportedly re-signed reserve defensive end Turk McBride.

Here’s a list of the Falcons’ top-10 salary-cap figures for 2012.

Scott Fowler has an excellent reflective piece on how the Carolina Panthers attempted to trade for Peyton Manning before he came out in the 1998 draft. The Panthers wanted to send Kerry Collins and draft picks to Indianapolis for the right to draft Manning. Obviously, no deal went down. But, imagine the possibilities? Dom Capers still might be coaching the Panthers and George Seifert’s disastrous reign never would have happened. Of course, the flip side is the Panthers probably wouldn’t have Cam Newton right now.

Here’s a look at a list of offensive linemen the Bucs could target in free agency. Ironically, I think there’s a better chance the top two guys on the list – Nicks and tackle Jared Gaither – end up with the Falcons instead of the Bucs.

Another day, another potentially ugly twist to the scandal involving the New Orleans Saints and what the NFL says was a “bounty program’’ to provide financial incentives for injuring opponents.

The latest development doesn’t involve the Saints directly, but it involves their former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who has been described as having been at the center of the bounty program. Williams previously was defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins.

Former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy has said a hit on Peyton Manning in a 2006 game with the Redskins may have started the neck problems that eventually sidelined the Colts quarterback all of last season.

The league reportedly also is looking into allegations that Williams used a similar bounty program when he was with the Redskins.

Things aren’t looking good for Williams, who left the Saints to join the St. Louis Rams in January, right now. Although the latest developments don’t really involve the Saints, they’re certainly not going to help them when commissioner Roger Goodell hands out discipline that could include fines, suspensions and the loss of draft picks.

Player safety has been a big emphasis by Goodell and the bounty program runs totally counter to the commissioner’s wishes.

Throw in the fact that Dungy is universally respected throughout the league and the last thing the league wants is marquee players like Manning missing entire seasons and perhaps putting their careers in jeopardy. The Saints weren’t involved in the Manning situation.

But Williams might have played a role in that. If he did, it’s not going to reflect on the Saints when Goodell looks at the totality of the circumstances.

The man who made the New Orleans Saints could end up breaking them.

Drew Brees arrived in 2006 as the Saints and the city of New Orleans were still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He brought instant credibility, an explosive brand of offense and sustained success for a franchise that had been hapless through most of its existence. He also played a vital role in rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf South region.

Now, the price tag on all that is coming due. Brees is scheduled to become a free agent on March 13. He and the Saints are negotiating, but reports indicate the two sides remain far apart. That in itself is a little unbelievable because the parameters of this deal are obvious. Brees deserves to be the highest-paid player in NFL history.

He’s coming off a year in which he set the NFL record for passing yards in a season (5,476), and he should get at least as much as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who average $18 million per year.

I have no doubt that, when all is said and done, Brees will remain with the Saints. If negotiations on a long-term deal continue to fail, the Saints will simply put the franchise tag on their franchise quarterback.

But, either way, this is when we could begin to see the beginning of the end of the Saints as we know them.

They’re not going to be the same team they were last season when they went 13-3. They might not even be the same team they were in 2010 when they went 11-5. And they certainly aren’t going to be the same team they were in the magical 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl.

They’ll have the same quarterback, and that’s a great start. But the economics of his contract mean the Saints aren’t going to have the same quality of players at a lot of other positions. That’s not Brees’ fault, or the team’s fault. It’s simply reality in the modern NFL.

By the time next season rolls around and everything has shaken out, the Saints could be taking several steps back. They’ll still have a high-powered offense because they’ll have Brees, Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham, but that offense might not be quite the machine it’s been the past few seasons. That’s because some parts are going to be gone and they can’t truly be replaced.

On defense, which wasn’t an area of strength to begin with, the Saints have a new coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, who needs new pieces to execute his scheme. He’s not going to be able to get all he needs -- at least not this offseason.

So you’re looking at an offense that probably will be a notch or two below what it’s been in recent seasons. And you’re looking at a defense that’s probably going to be far from dominant.

Gee, that sounds pretty much like the Saints were in 2007 and ’08. They scored a lot of points, but the offense wasn’t quite perfect. The defense was far below perfect. That added up to mediocre seasons that didn’t end in trips to the playoffs.

That could be what the Saints face in 2012.

We haven’t even seen the full fallout yet, but we can start looking ahead and, no matter how you slice it, it’s tough to paint a pretty picture.

Brees isn’t the only big-name free agent the Saints have, but he’s the only one they’re absolutely sure to keep. The same can’t be said for guard Carl Nicks and wide receiver Marques Colston. It definitely can’t be said for receiver Robert Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter, who aren’t on the Nicks/Colston level have been valuable contributors.

At absolute best, the Saints will be able to sign Brees and then place the franchise tag on either Nicks or Colston. At worst, they use the franchise tag on Brees, while Colston and Nicks both walk.

You don’t replace Nicks. He’s the best guard in the NFL and he may be just hitting his prime. Although the Saints have another very good guard in Jahri Evans, they no longer would have the unquestioned best guard tandem in the NFL.

Without Nicks, Brees would lose his best protector. Any quarterback, even Brees, isn’t quite as good when he’s getting pressured (think back to last season’s stunning loss to St. Louis).

Colston probably isn't on his way to the Hall of Fame, but he’s been Brees’ favorite target since they joined forces in 2006. Colston has had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in five of his six years. He’s a big target who isn't afraid to go over the middle. Take him away and take Meachem away, and the Saints would still have Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Adrian Arrington. Moore and Henderson are nice, experienced receivers, but they don’t do the things Colston does.

And when you’ve got no cap room to sign free agents and no first-round draft pick, where are you going to get a receiver who does anything close to what Colston does? And where are you going to get a guard who is anywhere near as good as Nicks?

So let’s subtract a few points a game from the Saints’ offense going forward. And we’re only just beginning to talk about a defense that could end up giving up more points than it has in recent seasons.

This defense isn’t loaded with talent and we soon could see subtraction by subtraction. This salary-cap jam almost certainly will force the Saints to let Porter walk. That’s not that big a deal. The Saints have a top-flight corner in Jabari Greer, and it’s pretty apparent they’ve been preparing for Porter’s eventual departure by drafting Patrick Robinson and Johnny Patrick in recent years.

But the cost of keeping Brees, and maybe Nicks or Colston, means it’s almost certain the Saints are going to have to trim some cap room by releasing some prominent defensive players or at least restructuring their contracts.

Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith are likely the top two targets for that. Although both are aging and Vilma is coming off a knee injury, those two have been New Orleans’ defensive leaders throughout coach Sean Payton’s tenure. Take Vilma away from a group of linebackers that’s ordinary, and you’ve got a group of linebackers that’s less than ordinary. And you're without the next guy in the leadership chain after Brees.

Again, the Saints don’t have the currency (cap room or prime draft picks) to make major upgrades here. Take Smith away from a pass rush that hasn’t even been ordinary, and you’ve got the potential for huge problems.

Unlike predecessor Gregg Williams, whose defensive philosophy was to be opportunistic and create turnovers, Spagnuolo believes in playing more of a shutdown defense, and he likes to generate almost all of his pressure from the front four. With Smith, the Saints have one guy up front who can rush the passer. Without him, they won’t have any.

Good luck trying to find a guy in the middle rounds of the draft or a low-priced free agent who will step right in and give you double-digit sacks. Spagnuolo is a good coach and his hiring set off celebrations in New Orleans. But a coach is only as good as the players around him, and Spagnuolo is probably not going to have a great deal of defensive talent in his first year.

That could be the story of the Saints in 2012.

Keeping their quarterback would at least keep them competitive, but they won't take steps forward if their roster is wiped out and the cap situation keeps them from being rebuilt.