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We’ve touched on the major news already that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to terms with wide receiver Vincent Jackson and have New Orleans guard Carl Nicks coming in for a visit.

But let’s catch up on some smaller news from around the division.

• New Orleans cornerback Tracy Porter appears ready to leave the Saints as a free agent. He’s drawing early interest from the St. Louis Rams. The Saints have prepared for Porter’s exit by drafting Patrick Robinson and Johnny Patrick the past two years.
• The Bucs are interested in David Carr as a backup for Josh Freeman. This makes lots of sense because Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan was Carr’s quarterbacks coach with the Giants and the Bucs seem to want a veteran to pair with Freeman. They also seem prepared to let go of last year’s backup, Josh Johnson, via free agency. But don’t put Carr on the Bucs’ roster just yet. I’ve heard he’s happy in New York and would return to the Giants if all things are equal. In other words, the Bucs probably will have to overpay if they want Carr, which they may. Even if it’s not Carr, look for the Bucs to add a veteran quarterback.
• Although he didn’t have the four accrued seasons to initially qualify for unrestricted free agency, the Saints did not make a tender to linebacker Ramon Humber. Without the tender, Humber becomes a free agent and still could be re-signed for a minimal salary.
• Former Carolina offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, who was not offered a tender, will visit with the Detroit Lions.

The New Orleans Saints have given a tender to just one of their three restricted free agents.

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas has been given the lowest tender, which is expected to be about $1.26 million. With that tender, the Saints will have the right of first refusal and can match any offer Casillas gets from another team. That tender also allows teams to get a draft pick from the same round the player was drafted in as compensation, but that doesn’t apply in this case because Casillas entered the league as an undrafted free agent.

Quarterback Chase Daniel and linebacker Ramon Humber also are free agents and the Saints have yet to issue tenders to them.

No NFC South team faces a more challenging period between now and the start of free agency than the New Orleans Saints.

They have to find a way to re-sign quarterback Drew Brees, and there are at least a couple other players that it’s essential the Saints retain. They’ve also got some important role players and will need to find ways to keep several of them despite a difficult salary-cap situation.

Let’s take a look at New Orleans’ potential free agents. They’re all unrestricted, unless noted otherwise:

Brees, defensive end Jeff Charleston, receiver Marques Colston, linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin, tight end John Gilmore, tight end Tory Humphrey, kicker John Kasay, defensive end Turk McBride, offensive lineman Pat McQuistan, receiver Robert Meachem, guard Carl Nicks, cornerback Tracy Porter, receiver/return man Courtney Roby, defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, cornerback Leigh Torrence, safety Jonathon Amaya (exclusive rights), receiver Adrian Arrington (exclusive rights), center Brian de la Puente (exclusive rights), offensive lineman Justin Drescher (exclusive rights), linebacker Jonathan Casillas (restricted), quarterback Chase Daniel (restricted) and linebacker Ramon Humber (restricted).

Whatever deal Brees signs, it’s likely he’ll take up somewhere around $15 million of the 2012 salary cap. But the Saints will have to continue to spend big money. It’s imperative they keep Nicks. He might be the best guard in the league and he’s Brees’ top protector. Keeping Colston also would seem to be a top priority because he’s one of Brees’ favorite targets.

Once the accounting is done on Brees, Nicks and Colston, the Saints will have to make some tough financial decisions. Porter and Meachem are important role players. But they could have market value elsewhere. The Saints might not be able to afford to keep them. That would hurt, but it might not be disastrous because the Saints have good depth at receiver and cornerback.

The final injury report for the Saints for Saturday’s playoff game with San Francisco is out, and the news is mixed.

Receiver Lance Moore (hamstring) will miss his second straight playoff game. The Saints can get by with Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem as their first three receivers. But Moore’s absence means the Saints likely will keep Adrian Arrington active. Arrington played some last week, but he doesn’t have nearly as much experience as Moore.

Backup tight end John Gilmore (toe) also has been declared out for Saturday. Linebacker Jonathan Casillas (knee) is listed as questionable and practiced on a limited basis Friday. If Casillas can’t play, we likely will see more of Martez Wilson and Ramon Humber.

On the positive side, middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma (knee), strong safety Roman Harper (ankle) and Meachem all are listed as probable.

The New Orleans Saints have declared wide receiver Lance Moore (hamstring) out for Saturday’s playoff game with Detroit.

New Orleans still has plenty of healthy receivers with Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson. But the Saints use all sorts of different personnel groupings and Adrian Arrington could pick up some of Moore’s playing time. Arrington has very limited playing experience.

The Saints also declared linebacker Jonathan Casillas (knee) and tight end John Gilmore (toe) out for Saturday. Martez Wilson and Ramon Humber could get more playing time with Casillas out.

The Saints are listing Meachem (knee), linebacker Jonathan Vilma (knee), safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck) and safety Jonathon Amaya (shoulder) as probable.

The only Detroit player who is listed as anything other than probable is safety Chris Harris, who is doubtful with a back injury.

It looks like there’s a growing chance the New Orleans Saints might have to play their wild-card playoff game against Detroit without wide receiver Lance Moore.

He missed his second straight day of practice with a hamstring injury. Moore missed the regular-season finale. The Saints have good depth at wide receiver as Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson are all capable of handling lots of playing time. But the Saints like to work with different personnel groupings and that could mean an increased role for Adrian Arrington, who does not have a lot of experience.

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas also missed another practice with a knee injury, making it likely he will not be able to play against Detroit. That could mean more playing time for Ramon Humber and Martez Wilson.

Reserve tight end John Gilmore (toe) also missed Thursday’s practice. Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma participated on a limited basis for the second straight day.

The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints just filed their final injury reports for their “Monday Night Football’’ game.

New Orleans running back Mark Ingram (toe) is doubtful. Don’t expect to see him Monday. The Saints also have Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and Chris Ivory at running back. They’re better off resting Ingram and making sure he’s fully healthy for the playoffs. Linebackers Jonathan Casillas (knee) and Ramon Humber (knee) also are listed as doubtful. Receiver Lance Moore is questionable with a hamstring injury and was held out of Saturday’s practice.

The Falcons are listing cornerback Kelvin Hayden (toe), receiver Kerry Meier (groin) and linebacker Stephen Nicholas (toe) as doubtful. Cornerback Brent Grimes is questionable as he attempts to come back from knee surgery. But the Falcons seem optimistic Grimes will play. If Grimes plays and Hayden doesn’t, look for Dominique Franks to be used as the third cornerback. If Nicholas doesn’t play, veteran Mike Peterson likely will start in his place.

We told you earlier Monday the Carolina Panthers signed Geoff Hangartner, who has a chance to start immediately at right guard. There also have been a bunch of minor transactions around the division. Let’s catch up on them now.

• The Panthers waived offensive lineman C.J. Davis to clear a roster spot for Hangartner.
• As expected the Buccaneers officially announced the signing of linebacker Zac Diles. The team also announced it had claimed tight end Zack Pianalto off waivers from Buffalo. To create roster spots, the Bucs waived cornerback D.J. Johnson and defensive end George Johnson. Don’t be surprised if they wind up on the practice squad.
• The Buccaneers also announce they have signed eight players to their practice squad. They are tackle Will Barker, safety Ahmad Black, quarterback Rudy Carpenter, tight end Collin Franklin, receiver Ed Gant, tight end Daniel Hardy, running back Mossis Madu and linebacker Derrell Smith. All eight were with the Bucs in the preseason.
• The Falcons filled out their practice squad by signing tight end Marquez Branson, who spent 2010 on the team’s practice squad.
• To make room for tight end John Gilmore, the Saints released linebacker Ramon Humber. The Saints also signed tackle William Robinson, guard Dennis Landolt and receiver Montez Billings. They released long-snapper Kyle Nelson, quarterback Sean Canfield and center Cecil Newton from the practice squad.

NEW ORLEANS -- Couple of interesting names on the list of inactives for the Saints. Before we get to that, though, running back Pierre Thomas is active for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in September.

The biggest surprise among the inactives is rookie cornerback Patrick Robinson. The Saints’ first-round draft pick, Robinson has spent most of the season as a backup, but did get some starts when Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter were hurt early in the year. Robinson hasn’t been much of a factor recently. Safety Usama Young also is a bit of a surprise on the inactive list. Young usually plays on special teams and he wasn’t on the injury report this week.

The other inactives for the Saints are: running back Julius Jones, linebacker Ramon Humber, offensive tackle Charles Brown, tight end Tory Humphrey, defensive end Junior Galette and linebacker Kawika Mitchell.

Time for an afternoon trip across the NFC South for some of the division's latest headlines.

• New Orleans coach Sean Payton said he expects tight end Jeremy Shockey and safety Darren Sharper to return from injuries Sunday. The injury list is getting pretty short with only running back Pierre Thomas, linebacker Anthony Waters and running back Ladell Betts on it. Thomas and Waters were limited in Wednesday's practice, while Betts did not participate.
• Stephen Holder wonders if we've seen the last of guard Davin Joseph with the Buccaneers. It's a legitimate question because Joseph, who went on injured reserve, can become a free agent after the season. The Bucs haven't been locking up their own players and I think some of that is due to the league's labor uncertainty. It also might be wise for Joseph to test free agency. He's one of the league's better guards and he's in his prime.
• The Saints signed linebacker Ramon Humber and released quarterback Sean Canfield. Don't be surprised if Canfield ends up on the practice squad shortly. The Saints have been bouncing him between the regular roster and the practice squad much of the year.
• Joseph Person reports Carolina safety Sherrod Martin was fined $40,000 for a hit on Cleveland tight end Evan Moore and also writes that a teammate said cornerback Chris Gamble was benched for parts of Sunday's game for missing practice last week.
• In his latest Rookie Watch, our Matt Williamson has three Tampa Bay players among the top 10 -- Gerald McCoy, Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount. I'm with him on all three selections and I don't want to get too carried away. But let's examine this a little more closely. McCoy was the third overall pick and he's starting to do what he was supposed to do. But Williams was a fourth-round pick and Blount was an undrafted free agent the Bucs picked up off waivers. Tampa Bay is currently carrying 16 rookies and a couple more of those guys are bound to emerge. Receiver Arrelious Benn, a second-round pick, has had some promising moments. Defensive tackle Brian Price, another second-round pick is on injured reserve. Let's say Benn continues to develop, Price comes back next year and does what he's supposed to and another guy or two emerges. The Bucs could end up having one of the best rookie classes in history.