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The Atlanta Falcons have had the quietest offseason of any NFC South team. But that doesn't mean they won't have some changes in their starting lineup.

Now that the NFL draft is over, let's take a look at my best guess at what Atlanta's starting lineup will look like in September.

OFFENSE

• QB Matt Ryan

• RB Michael Turner

• FB Ovie Mughelli

• WR Roddy White

• WR Julio Jones

• TE Tony Gonzalez

• LT Sam Baker (or someone not yet on the roster)

• LG Justin Blalock

• C Joe Hawley (I’m guessing he starts ahead of Todd McClure)

• RG Peter Konz (unless he ends up playing center)

• RT Tyson Clabo

DEFENSE

• DE John Abraham

• DT Corey Peters

• DT Jonathan Babineaux

• DE Ray Edwards

• OLB Sean Weatherspoon

• MLB Akeem Dent (Falcons would like him to beat out veteran Lofa Tatupu)

• OLB Stephen Nicholas

• CB Brent Grimes

• CB Dunta Robinson (Asante Samuel will play as much as Grimes and Robinson)

• SS William Moore

• FS Thomas DeCoud

SPECIALISTS

• K Matt Bryant

• P Matt Bosher

• PR Dominique Franks

• KR Jacquizz Rodgers

The sixth round of the NFL draft is over and each NFC South team made one pick. Let’s take a look.

The Buccaneers selected West Virginia cornerback Keith Tandy. At this stage of the draft, it’s all about depth. With Aqib Talib’s future still uncertain and the possibility of Ronde Barber playing safety, Tandy gives the Bucs some more depth at cornerback and a likely special-teams player.

The Saints took Syracuse guard Andrew Tiller. This is one guy that you don’t write off as a career backup just because he’s a sixth-round pick. First off, Tiller has great size and some upside. Second, the Saints have a history of finding great guards later in the draft. They found Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, although Nicks left this year via free agency. Oh, there’s one other factor here. Tiller’s college coach was Doug Marrone, who used to be New Orleans’ offensive coordinator, so Tiller should have some familiarity with the Saints’ offense.

The Falcons picked Mississippi State safety Charles Mitchell. He’s a little short, but he’s strong and powerful. As a three-year starter in the SEC, he has experience against good competition. He should provide some solid depth behind Thomas DeCoud and William Moore.

The Panthers used the final pick of the sixth round on Wisconsin punter Brad Nortman. This is significant. The Panthers released punter Jason Baker in a salary-cap move and needed a replacement. They found one in Nortman.

As it turns out, the Atlanta Falcons aren’t planning to jump over that playoff hurdle that’s been talked so much about.

They simply plan to plow right through it. The latest evidence came Friday night when the Falcons used their second-round draft pick (No. 55 overall) on Wisconsin center (more on that in a moment) Peter Konz.

It would have been very easy for the Falcons to overreact and do something crazy after an embarrassing January playoff loss to the New York Giants. Yeah, they could have made a leap in free agency for defensive end Mario Williams, which seemed to be the preferred rout by 99 of every 100 Falcons fans.

But the fact is, if the Falcons had landed Williams back in March, they wouldn’t be as good a team as they are today. Seriously.

Yeah, I know it sounds a little ridiculous to say the Falcons are better off without a guy who could have brought them double-digit sacks. But it’s the truth. Had the Falcons signed Williams, they would have had to gut their existing roster.

The salary-cap space Williams would have taken up would have prevented the Falcons from keeping guys like receiver Harry Douglas, safety Thomas DeCoud, defensive end John Abraham, center Todd McClure and running back Jason Snelling. They might not have been able to fit cornerback Brent Grimes under the salary cap with the franchise tag. Even if they did, they would have had to have made some dramatic moves -- like releasing receiver Roddy White, running back Michael Turner or fullback Ovie Mughelli.

Any or all of those moves seemed possible in the immediate aftermath of the loss in New York. But owner Arthur Blank, who earlier in his tenure may have been prone to overreacting, sat down with coach Mike Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coolly came up with a plan on how the Falcons can take the next step.

Smith and Dimitroff have had four straight winning seasons, but have yet to win a playoff game. When you’ve had four straight winning seasons, you don’t blow a team up. You keep it together and fix the things that are wrong.

Without flash, that’s precisely what the Falcons have done and Friday night was just another step.

“We were really honed in on the offensive line as you can imagine,’’ Dimitroff said, moments after selecting Konz. “We need to get more stout on this offensive line.’’

There’s no doubt about that. Let’s consider this item from ESPN Stats & Information: The Falcons were one of 10 teams to average less than 4.0 yards per rush between the tackles last season. That came despite the fact they have a bruising runner in Turner.

The Falcons also didn’t do a great job of protecting quarterback Matt Ryan. That failure was the major reason why all the downfield passing we heard about after the Falcons traded up to draft Julio Jones didn’t fully materialize last year. The Falcons were soft up front and it cost offensive line coach Paul Boudreau his job.

Other than left tackle Sam Baker, a first-round pick in 2008, the Falcons really haven’t made huge investments in their offensive line. The arrival of Konz changes that.

Although he played center at Wisconsin, Dimitroff said “we’re listing him as a guard/center right now’’.

It’s no big secret McClure is at the end of his career. He’s 35 and it shows. The Falcons brought him back as insurance, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be their starting center on opening day. Guard Joe Hawley also can play center. Hawley also could factor into the situation at guard, where he played last season along with Justin Blalock and Garrett Reynolds. Add Konz to that mix and it’s pretty clear the Falcons are going to throw all their guards and centers onto the field in training camp and the preseason and see which of the three emerge as the best trio.

“Let’s come in here and have some great competition and see who can protect Matt Ryan the best,’’ Dimitroff said. “We want production and we want guys who can finish. In Peter, we have a guy who can do both of those.’’

Look, I’m not saying a guard/center from Wisconsin is going to come in the second round and push right through that hurdle all by himself. Konz is just a part of the puzzle and maybe fans can finally see that picture coming together now.

There’s a reason why Atlanta didn’t have a first-round pick this year. Jones was the first-round pick for last year and this year and he’s better than any receiver in this year’s draft. There was a reason why the Falcons didn’t make to splurge in free agency. They didn’t have the salary-cap room to do it without ripping a good team apart.

Little by little, they’ve made moves that have them gaining speed as they head for that hurdle. Just this week, they traded a late-round draft pick for four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel and quickly signed him to a cap-friendly deal.

In theory, Samuel should team with Grimes and Dunta Robinson to give the Falcons one of the league’s best cornerback tandems. In theory, Konz should team with all those other offensive linemen to make the Falcons tougher up front.

Yeah, there still are a few needs -- the pass rush, depth at tight end and maybe some more help on the outside of the offensive line. The Falcons are well aware of all that. They’ll address those needs in the rest of the draft and after it when the time and the price are right. But, now, you can see their offseason plan taking shape.

If the Falcons had gone out and paid a fortune for Williams, they wouldn’t be making solid, safe picks like Konz because they’d be desperately trying to repair all the other damage they did to their team.

In this recent column, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank talked quite a bit about the importance of continuity.

He cited it as a reason why the Falcons didn’t make a big splash in free agency. That pretty much backs up the philosophy that’s been recited by the Falcons since the arrival of general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith in 2008 -- draft well, keep your core players for the long term, and supplement them with free agents when necessary.

You’ve got to give the Falcons credit for practicing what they preach. This offseason marked the first time that a big portion of a Dimitroff/Smith draft class became eligible for free agency, and the Falcons did a good job of keeping the players they wanted. They re-signed receiver Harry Douglas, safety Thomas DeCoud, and defensive end Kroy Biermann. Quarterback Matt Ryan and offensive tackle Sam Baker, the top two Atlanta picks from 2008, remain under contract. The Falcons did lose middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, a player they had interest in keeping.

The Falcons gave Lofton an offer before free agency, but he had a different figure in mind. Lofton ended up signing with New Orleans for a lot less than his original asking price, and the Falcons are prepared to move on with either veteran Lofa Tatupu or second-year pro Akeem Dent in his place. Ryan is likely to get a contract extension at some point, and the Falcons might use the final year of Baker’s contract to make a decision on if he’s a long-term answer.

I just got some numbers that back up what the Falcons have been saying. When it comes to retaining drafted players, the Falcons are among the league leaders in the Smith/Dimitroff era.

Of the 32 players drafted by the Falcons since 2008, 26 are on the roster. That’s 81.3 percent, which puts the Falcons second only to the Minnesota Vikings, who have an 82.1 percent retention rate in that same time frame (the percentages were current as of early Tuesday afternoon). For the sake of comparison, Denver ranks last in the league by retaining only 48.6 percent of the players drafted since 2008. For more context, Tennessee (77.8 percent) and Houston (75 percent) are the only other teams with a retention rate of 75 percent or better.

Most of the rest of the NFC South also has fared well in retaining draft picks since 2008. Tampa Bay, which has been preaching a philosophy similar to Atlanta’s, ranks No. 7 in the NFL at 70 percent. Of the 31 players the Buccaneers have drafted since 2008, 21 remain on the team.

Although the Saints have had the second-fewest number of picks since 2008, their retention percentage is fairly high at 68.2 percent. Of the 22 players New Orleans has picked, 15 remain on the roster.

Carolina is the only NFC South team in the bottom half of the league in retention. The Panthers are No. 21 at 61.8 percent. They’ve had 34 picks, and 21 remain on the roster.

Given the way Atlanta Falcons fans have reacted to what the team has done (or, more accurately, not done) this offseason, I was expecting Arthur Blank to pull out earmuffs as he reached into his pocket just before the start of an interview last week.

It didn’t happen. Instead, the owner of the Falcons pulled out a pair of sunglasses. This was a rare step outside during the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. He slipped on the shades, surveyed the Atlantic Ocean, sat down on a bench and started explaining, in great detail, the course his team has chosen.

Maybe this will, once and for all, stop all the screaming in Atlanta about how the Falcons didn’t pursue LB Mario Williams and didn’t really do much of anything in free agency. Blank has a detailed answer for that and, when you listen, it should all start to make sense.

There was a moment when I looked directly at Blank, but could have sworn I was seeing and hearing Gene Hackman. It was almost exactly like the scene in “Hoosiers," where the basketball coach played by Hackman firmly tells a referee “my team is on the court" after a player fouls out and the coach elects to go with four players instead of turning back to a player who had defied orders.

Blank has said, “My team is on the field."

Yeah, the marquee free-agent signings have been linebacker Lofa Tatupu and guard Vince Manuwai. And Atlanta fans aren’t exactly jumping up and down about the fact that the Falcons re-signed defensive end John Abraham and center Todd McClure; it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if they decided to retire. Throw in the re-signing of role players Thomas DeCoud, Jason Snelling and Harry Douglas, and it’s easy to see why a lot of Atlanta fans believe the Falcons haven’t done a single thing to get better after ending last season with an embarrassing playoff loss to the New York Giants.

But Blank has an explanation, so let’s hear it.

“I feel good about where we are,’’ Blank said. “I know we didn’t make a big splash going into free agency. But that really wasn’t our intention going into this year. We really felt we had a lot of talent. We were fortunate that we had the opportunity to bring in the two new coordinators and a few other coaches. At some point, it’s not even a matter of if the contents are correct. Sometimes, it’s a matter of who is delivering the message and whether the players are hearing it or not.’’

The man makes a good point. The 2011 Falcons team that went 10-6 (and didn't play with much consistency) was essentially the same team that went 13-3 and played with a great deal of consistency in 2010. The 2012 Falcons have largely the same roster as the previous two teams. In the eyes of Blank, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith, the problem last season and the reason this team hasn’t won a playoff game under the current administration isn’t about the roster.

Maybe the roster was just fine, but the coaching staff and the schemes were holding back the Falcons. Offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey left after the season to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder left after the season to become the defensive coordinator at Auburn. Both men left on their own, but I get the impression that if they hadn’t, they might have been shown the door.

Let’s be honest here. Mularkey’s offensive system reached its peak in 2010 and didn’t get any better even with the addition of talented rookie receiver Julio Jones last season. VanGorder’s defense was solid but never dominant, which was a disappointment because the Falcons have some individual talent on defense. Mularkey has been replaced by Dirk Koetter, and VanGorder has been replaced by Mike Nolan.

“I love the selections that Smitty and Thomas made,’’ Blank said.

I get the sense that the days of QB Matt Ryan rolling out and almost always checking down are over. I get the sense that the days of sitting back in the Cover 2 are long gone.

“Dirk and I have had numerous discussions in terms of what our players are capable of doing,’’ Smith said during the meetings. “I think, first and foremost, you have to design your schemes toward what the players are capable of doing. We’ve spent a lot of time identifying the strengths and weakness of all our guys and what they do well and what they don’t do well, and we want to put together an offense that accentuates their strengths.’’

In other words, the Falcons aren’t going to be handing the ball to Michael Turner 300-plus times a season. They’re going to try to take some shots downfield with Jones and Roddy White, and they’re going to get versatile second-year running back Jacquizz Rodgers more involved in the offense. They also will try to put Ryan in a position where he can go from being a good quarterback to an elite one.

Smith said he’s had similar discussions with Nolan, the former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers who has had success as a defensive coordinator elsewhere. Nolan is noted for producing aggressive defenses. Some minor tweaks to attitude and scheme could provide an upgrade over the VanGorder units that never were able to establish any sort of identity.

Blank made quite a bit of noise after the loss to the Giants about how simply getting to the playoffs wasn’t good enough. He wants his team to win playoff games and contend for the Super Bowl.

That really hasn’t changed. But after the heat of the moment cooled a bit, Blank, Smith and Dimitroff sat back and realized they weren’t all that far from where they wanted to be. Early in his days as an owner, Blank was portrayed as hands-on and reactionary. I don’t think those descriptions really fit him anymore and I think he’s learned from his past. I think Blank is at a stage where he remains plugged in but trusts Smith and Dimitroff to make the football decisions.

“I went back and studied this over a long period of time in the NFL and studied the great teams,’’ Blank said. “Consistency is very important in terms of leadership with coaches and players. The great teams, what they have done is they’ve kept their head coaches for a longer period of time, kept their general managers for a longer period of time, and they identified early enough their core players and they extended them. The football staff has done a great job of identifying the players that can help us and keep them.’’

The salary cap also was a factor in the Falcons’ approach to the offseason. Pursuing Williams or some other big names in free agency would have meant sacrificing continuity. The only key player the Falcons lost was middle linebacker Curtis Lofton -- and that was a calculated loss. Lofton wanted a lot of money and Atlanta placed a limit on his value. If the Falcons had made just one or two big free-agency moves and kept Lofton, guys like Abraham, McClure, DeCoud, Douglas and Snelling wouldn’t be on the roster. The team would have had to cut other players to free up cap room. The Falcons could have made a splash, but it would have left them with all sorts of holes.

“What you have to look at is, this is not like baseball,’’ Blank said. “There are limits. This is real money and not monopoly money … one of the beauties in the NFL is that in July and August fans of every team think their team has a chance to go to the playoffs or to go to the Super Bowl and win it. The salary-cap system forces you to make some tough choices. Thomas and Smitty and their staffs made these choices because they believe they were the ones that will give us the biggest bang for the buck going forward. I certainly tested their logic and asked questions, but I think their plan was all very sound and well-formulated.’’

Like it or not, Blank is putting his team (the one chosen by Smith and Dimitroff) on the field this fall. You might not like it now and that’s fine with Blank. He thinks you’ll like it a lot more as the season goes along.

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.

Let’s take a look at the details of the contract signed by Atlanta safety Thomas DeCoud earlier this week.

It’s a five-year deal that averages $3.5 million per season. But that number could grow.

DeCoud received a $3 million signing bonus and will earn a base salary of $1.4 million this year with $1 million of that guaranteed. In 2013, his salary will rise to $1.9 million.

DeCoud has a chance to earn some serious money after that if he has established himself as a solid player. In 2014, his salary jumps to $4.2 million and $2.25 million of that becomes guaranteed if he’s on the roster on the fifth day of the league year.

In 2015, DeCoud’s base salary is scheduled to be $4 million, but it can grow by as much as $1.6 million if he meets playing-time requirements, has an unspecified number of interceptions and makes the Pro Bowl. In 2016, DeCoud is scheduled to make $4.2 million, but can increase that by up to another $1.9 million if certain incentives are met.

Atlanta safety Thomas DeCoud will not be testing free agency.

The Falcons announced Tuesday morning that the four-year veteran has agreed to a new contract. Terms of the deal weren’t immediately available.

But the signing shows the Falcons still have high hopes for their third-round draft pick from 2008. DeCoud has started 47 of 58 career games.

In 2011, he hit a brief slump that landed him on the bench. But DeCoud later reclaimed his starting job and appeared to get back in the good graces of the coaching staff. Ideally, the Falcons would like DeCoud and William Moore to be their safeties for the long term.

The hope in the organization is that DeCoud and Moore, who both have good physical skills, can become more consistent under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

DeCoud did have a career-high four interceptions last season, and ranked third on the team in tackles.

The NFC South might not have a true standout safety, but it has plenty of durable ones.

Five division safeties participated in more than 90 percent of their team’s defensive plays in 2011. We’ll wrap up our series, which started last week, of playing time at every position with the safeties. Special thanks to NFC South Blog unofficial (and unpaid) intern Chris Walker from Saint Leo University for helping tabulate the results.

Carolina’s Sherrod Martin led all division safeties by participating in 96.8 percent of the defensive snaps. That percentage ranked No. 18 in the NFL as Martin was on the field for 990 of Carolina’s 1,023 defensive snaps.

Atlanta’s Thomas DeCoud (94.9 percent), Tampa Bay’s Sean Jones (93.8), New Orleans’ Roman Harper (93.2) and New Orleans’ Malcolm Jenkins (91.3) also were among the league leaders. Carolina’s Charles Godfrey wasn’t far behind them at 83.7 percent.

Here’s a look at some other NFC South safeties who got at least moderate playing time:

• William Moore, Falcons, 59.5
• Tanard Jackson, Buccaneers, 49.9
• James Sanders, Falcons, 45.2
• Corey Lynch, Buccaneers, 26
• Jordan Pugh, Panthers, 23.8
• Cody Grimm, Buccaneers, 16.7

Since the NFC South doesn’t have a team in the Super Bowl, let’s start looking ahead to the 2012 offseason.

We’ll start by taking a look at each team and its potential free agents. We’ll start with the Atlanta Falcons. We’ll list all of their potential free agents. Each one listed is a potential unrestricted free agent, unless he’s noted as a restricted or exclusive-rights free agent. After I list the free agents, I’ll summarize what could be the most important moves as teams re-sign players between now and the start of free agency in mid-March.

Here are Atlanta’s potential free agents: Defensive end John Abraham, defensive end Kroy Biermann, offensive lineman Kirk Chambers, safety Thomas DeCoud, receiver Harry Douglas, cornerback Brent Grimes, cornerback Kelvin Hayden, tight end Reggie Kelly, linebacker Curtis Lofton, center Todd McClure, linebacker Mike Peterson, offensive lineman Brett Romberg, safety James Sanders, running back Jason Snelling, receiver Eric Weems, long-snapper Joe Zelenka, tight end Michael Palmer (exclusive rights), running back Antone Smith (exclusive rights) and defensive tackle Vance Walker (restricted).

Lofton and Grimes are the most significant names on that list. They’re key defensive starters, and they’re in their prime. Keeping Lofton, the quarterback of the defense, might be the top priority. There’s little doubt the Falcons want Grimes back. He’s developed into a very good cornerback, despite the fact that he’s undersized. But Grimes could get big money elsewhere. The Falcons already have a lot invested in cornerback Dunta Robinson, and might not be able to pay huge contracts to two cornerbacks.

Abraham, McClure and Peterson are nearing the end of their careers. Any of them could decide to retire. The Falcons also could decide to bring back any of them as a role player. Abraham still was the team’s best pass-rusher in 2011.

It’s likely the Falcons will have some interest in keeping Biermann, DeCoud, Douglas and Snelling. They’re still young, but they could get better offers elsewhere. Hayden and Sanders each are veterans that could test the market, but eventually return to give the Falcons depth.

Defense wasn’t a strength in the NFC South in the 2011 season. In fact, it was a big problem for the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and only an occasional strength for the Atlanta Falcons.

But there were some solid individual performances. With that in mind, let’s roll out the All-NFC South defense.

Defensive end: Charles Johnson, Panthers. He got his huge contract in the summer, but didn’t take the money and disappear. Johnson came through with nine sacks and also played the run fairly well.

Defensive end: Adrian Clayborn, Buccaneers. Yes, I’m taking the rookie over Atlanta veteran John Abraham. I know Abraham ended up with 9.5 sacks, but 3.5 of them came against Jacksonville and rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Abraham was ordinary most of the season and was on the field for only 13 percent of Atlanta’s defensive snaps. Clayborn finished with 7.5 sacks. He also was on the field for about 80 percent of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps, showed he can rush the passer and played the run well. Not much went right for the Bucs in the 2011 season. But they hit on their first-round draft pick.

Defensive tackle: Corey Peters, Falcons. He started in 2010, but was only a run-stuffer then. Peters emerged into a complete defensive tackle in his second season and showed signs he can generate a pass rush in the middle.

Defensive tackle: Brian Price, Buccaneers. Off the top of my head, I was preparing to go with Atlanta’s Jonathan Babineaux or New Orleans’ Sedrick Ellis. Then I looked at their statistics and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m going with Price, who quietly put together a nice season. He finished with three sacks and was one of the few Bucs who played the run well. More importantly, Price made a nice comeback from surgery on his pelvis and played through the pain of an ankle injury for most of the second half of the season.

Linebacker: Curtis Lofton, Falcons. In a year in which Carolina’s Jon Beason was hurt and New Orleans’ Jonathan Vilma slowed down, Lofton emerged as the NFC South’s best middle linebacker.

Linebacker: Sean Weatherspoon, Falcons. The second-year pro might now be the division’s best all-around linebacker. Weatherspoon is a playmaker and plays with an attitude that the rest of Atlanta’s defense needs to copy.

Linebacker: James Anderson, Panthers. With Beason and Thomas Davis going down early, Anderson was the bright spot in Carolina’s linebacker corps.

Cornerback: Jabari Greer, Saints. He often gets overlooked, but this guy is the best cover corner in the division.

Cornerback: Chris Gamble, Panthers. Gamble got benched by coach John Fox at the end of the 2010 season and his career appeared to be on the downside. But Gamble got a fresh start with coach Ron Rivera and bounced back with a strong season.

Safety: Malcolm Jenkins, Saints. He didn’t make as many big plays as I think he’s capable of, but Jenkins is an enormous talent. If the Saints can add a pass rush, the big plays will flow for Jenkins.

Safety: Thomas DeCoud, Falcons. He was benched briefly early in the season, but DeCoud seemed to get the message that he needed to play better. He finished the season with four interceptions and 86 tackles.

Let’s take a look at the latest 2012 salary-cap figures for all four NFC South teams.

According to numbers obtained by ESPN.com, the Carolina Panthers have a division-high $129.9 million committed toward 2012. That puts the Panthers No. 3 in the league in the moment and they’ll have to make some moves to be compliant with the cap before the league year starts in March.

The other three NFC South teams aren’t in bad shape at the moment. The Atlanta Falcons are at $99.7, but they’re facing some major decisions on keeping some of their own free agents -- Brent Grimes, Curtis Lofton, John Abraham, Todd McClure and Thomas DeCoud -- and those could be costly.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are third at $97.024 million, but there could be some escalators that haven’t kicked in yet and could push the number higher.

The New Orleans Saints are last in the division at $95 million. But that number is misleading. The Saints almost certainly will be signing quarterback Drew Brees to a new contract and his cap figure for the first year likely will be somewhere around $15 million. After that, the Saints also have to make some decisions on key free agents like guard Carl Nicks, receiver Robert Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter.

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

Jacksonville’s hiring of Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey as head coach probably means Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzkinski will be staying with the Panthers. Chudzinski also interviewed for the Jacksonville job. No other teams have asked permission to interview Chudzinski.

New Orleans running back Pierre Thomas is coming off one of the best games of his career. He had 121 all-around yards in the playoff victory against Detroit. Thomas, who was bothered by an ankle injury last year, said he’s healthy. The Saints have used Thomas in a rotation with Darren Sproles and Chris Ivory and all three running backs look fresh.

Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said that after facing the Falcons he agrees with teammate Justin Tuck who previously said the Atlanta offensive line plays dirty. Funny, but the Atlanta offensive line wasn’t slowing Pierre-Paul down in Sunday’s playoff game.

Atlanta has 20 potential unrestricted free agents and the list is heavy on defensive players. Defensive end John Abraham, middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, safety Thomas DeCoud and cornerback Brent Grimes are not under contract. I assume re-signing Lofton and Grimes will be at the top of Atlanta’s wish list. The Falcons have a fair amount of cap money and should be able to afford to keep both.

Marty Schottenheimer, who interviewed for Tampa Bay’s coaching job, said he’s intrigued by the young talent the Buccaneers have.

The Times-Picayune has its weekly graphic on Drew Brees’ passes. Take a look at what he did on deep passes against the Lions. I see only one incomplete pass.

Since the Bucs seem intent on going with an older coach, Charlie Campbell throws out a suggestion. He writes the Bucs should hire Monte Kiffin, who is the defensive coordinator at the University of Southern California. Kiffin hasn't been an NFL head coach. But he had a long run as Tampa Bay's defensive coordinator and was very popular with the fans.

Monday’s news that defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has left the Falcons for a position at Auburn is probably just the beginning of many changes for Atlanta.

VanGorder had been the coordinator since the arrival of coach Mike Smith in 2008. His defense this season was good, but certainly not great. That was kind of the theme for the entire team, and this is a change that will be healthy for the Falcons in the long run. This team obviously needs some change.

As soon as VanGorder left, speculation started that former Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio could be a possible replacement. That’s very logical. Smith was Del Rio’s defensive coordinator in Jacksonville before taking the Atlanta job. The two have a close relationship, and Del Rio would be a good fit.

Del Rio has only one year of experience as a coordinator. That came with Carolina in the 2002 season, and it was a prosperous year for the Panthers’ defense. Del Rio, a former NFL linebacker, quickly established a reputation for being aggressive.

That’s something the Falcons could use. Their defense was capable of slowing offenses in 2011, but didn’t produce a lot of big plays. Smith obviously has a lot of say in Atlanta’s defense, and he needs to adjust a little bit. Adding an aggressive coordinator would be a step in the right direction.

But the Falcons face some other major decisions on defense. Cornerback Brent Grimes, middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, defensive end John Abraham and safety Thomas DeCoud are all potential free agents.

All were starters and key players this season, and I suspect the Falcons at least want to keep Lofton and Grimes. Abraham is aging and could decide to retire. If he wants to continue playing, the Falcons might want him back. Even though he’s slowing down, Abraham still is a strong pass-rusher, and the Falcons need pressure up front.

Atlanta’s defense needs to improve in the secondary and needs to come up with more big plays all around. I doubt Smith will make drastic changes to his scheme. But this defense needs to tweak its personnel in several areas, and needs to come up with a lot more big plays in 2012.

Three things to know about next Sunday’s Atlanta Falcons-New York Giants wild-card game.

1. Take the next step. Since arriving together in 2008, coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan have produced four consecutive winning seasons. That’s great, but the big knock on Smith and Ryan is that they have yet to win a playoff game. When they were the No. 1 seed last year, they lost at home to the No. 6 Packers. Going on the road to a cold-weather venue will be difficult. But Atlanta went all-in this season with the trade up to draft Julio Jones and sign defensive end Ray Edwards. They need a postseason victory to make this season any sort of success. Ryan also needs to shed the label that he can’t win the big one.

2. Stop the pass rush. The Falcons had problems protecting Ryan early in the season and that caused lots of problems. The offensive line has played better lately. But the Giants feature a very strong pass rush. They have Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora is back from an injury. The Giants can generate pressure with their front four alone. The Falcons are going to have to use their running backs and tight ends to give left tackle Will Svitek some blocking help.

3. Slow down Victor Cruz. The New York receiver has come out of nowhere to become one of the league’s top receivers. Cruz has lots of speed and has been making lots of big plays downfield. If cornerback Brent Grimes, who has missed time with a knee injury, is healthy, he and cornerback Dunta Robinson can match up with Cruz and the short and mid-level passing game. But safeties William Moore, Thomas DeCoud and James Sanders will have to step up and do a better job providing help than they did in the regular season. Of course, it would also help if Atlanta can generate a pass rush. There are some signs that’s possible. After a slow start, defensive end John Abraham has come on strong in recent weeks.