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There were a whole bunch of minor transactions around the NFC South on Tuesday. Here’s a quick roundup.

The Saints signed cornerback Marcus McCauley and waived cornerback Chris McAlister. The Saints also placed linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar on injured reserve. The summary on this one is that McAlister, who the Saints signed a couple weeks ago, was really old and it showed when he had to play. McCauley’s nothing special and didn’t live up to his status as a third-round pick in 2007 by Minnesota, but he can at least move.

The Falcons signed running back Verron Haynes and tight end Jason Rader and released receiver Troy Bergeron while placing linebacker Tony Gilbert on injured reserve. Nothing major here, Haynes has bounced on and off the roster this year. Rader was with the Falcons last year and was in training camp this summer.

As expected, the Bucs went ahead and placed return man Clifton Smith on injured reserve after his second concussion of the season. They filled his roster spot by elevating running back Kareem Huggins from the practice squad. Look for rookie receiver Sammie Stroughter to take over the return duties.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Another quiet day in the NFC South so far, but that could always change this afternoon as teams get ready for the start of free agency. Speaking of that, I've been getting a lot of people asking for lists of free agents.

I did team-by-team breakdowns back in January but decided to run the lists for all four NFC South teams here just to refresh everybody. Keep in mind, these are the guys who are prospective free agents at the end of the month and things could always change with teams re-signing their own players or using the franchise tag.

ATLANTA FALCONS

Unrestricted free agents: Linebacker Michael Boley, defensive end Chauncey Davis, cornerback Domonique Foxworth, tackle Wayne Gandy, linebacker Tony Gilbert, defensive tackle Grady Jackson, defensive tackle Jason Jefferson, punter Michael Koenen, safety Lawyer Milloy, tight end Justin Peelle and linebacker Coy Wire.

Restricted free agents: Tackle Tyson Clabo, guard Harvey Dahl, safety Jamaal Fudge and center Ben Wilkerson.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Unrestricted free agents: Linebacker Donte' Curry, tackle Jordan Gross, offensive lineman Geoff Hangartner, return man Mark Jones, long-snapper Jason Kyle, tackle Frank Omiyale, defensive end Julius Peppers, linebacker Adam Seward and defensive tackle Darwin Walker.

Restricted free agents: Defensive tackle Gary Gibson, tight end Jeff King, safety Nate Salley and linebacker James Anderson.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Unrestricted free agents: Cornerback Aaron Glenn, quarterback Joey Harrington, receiver Devery Henderson, defensive tackle Antwan Lake, guard Matt Lehr, running back Aaron Stecker, tackle Jon Stinchcomb and linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

Restricted free agents: Guard Jahri Evans, receiver Lance Moore, receiver Courtney Roby, defensive tackle Montavious Stanley and offensive lineman Zach Strief.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Unrestricted free agents: Wide receiver Antonio Bryant, cornerback Phillip Buchanon, defensive end Kevin Carter, receiver Michael Clayton, quarterback Jeff Garcia, receiver Cortez Hankton, defensive tackle Jovan Haye, safety Jermaine Phillips, defensive tackle Ryan Sims and tight end Jerramy Stevens.

Restricted free agent: Tackle Donald Penn.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

We're going to start a team-by-team look at the potential free agents for the four NFC South teams.

ESPN's Jeremy Green passed along his list of each team's free agents that I'll share with you and then analyze the decisions each team has to make about keeping its own players.

We'll start with the Falcons.

Their list of unrestricted free agents includes linebacker Michael Boley, defensive end Chauncey Davis, cornerback Domonique Foxworth, tackle Wayne Gandy, linebacker Tony Gilbert, defensive tackle Grady Jackson, defensive tackle Jason Jefferson, punter Michael Koenen, safety Lawyer Milloy, tight end Justin Peelle and linebacker Coy Wire.

The restricted free agents are tackle Tyson Clabo, guard Harvey Dahl, safety Jamaal Fudge and center Ben Wilkerson.

Overview: Believe it or not, the priority here might be keeping Koenen. He's one of the league's steadiest punters and gave the Falcons lots of good field position. Davis and Foxworth might be next on the list. Although Atlanta's probably going to look for help at defensive end, Davis showed some promise this year and the Falcons may move Jamaal Anderson inside to tackle. They need a guy like Davis in their end rotation.

Foxworth was a great pickup from Denver. The Falcons may look for a cornerback in the draft, but Foxworth has shown he can start or be a good nickelback. Jackson is 35 and Milloy is 34. Both had some good moments last season, but it's likely the Falcons will let them test the market. They'll look to get younger at those positions, but might turn back to Jackson or Milloy if they feel they haven't upgraded enough at those positions.

Boley fell out of favor with the coaching staff last season and lost his starting job to Wire. The Falcons will likely let Boley walk and make an attempt to keep Wire. But they'll be looking for more help at outside linebacker because Keith Brooking showed signs of age last season. He could retire or be released and the Falcons need to surround middle linebacker Curtis Lofton with some talent.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

ATLANTA -- The Falcons will be without starting strong safety Lawyer Milloy.

He's been declared inactive because of a back injury suffered last week. Jamaal Fudge will start in his place. There will be one other lineup change for the Falcons: Defensive end Jamaal Anderson won't play because of a sprained ankle. Chauncey Davis will start in his place.

Atlanta's other inactives are: D.J. Shockley, Glenn Sharpe, Tony Gilbert, Wayne Gandy, Alex Stepanovich and Quinn Ojinnaka.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

The Atlanta coaching staff reached into its background today, signing linebacker Tony Gilbert and tight end Justin Peelle.

Falcons coach Mike Smith coached Gilbert when he was the defensive coordinator for Jacksonville. Gilbert spent five seasons with the Jaguars. He's not likely to be much of a factor at linebacker, but could be a regular on special teams.

Peelle was with the Dolphins when Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey was Miami's tight ends coach. Peelle set career highs with 29 catches for 228 yards last season. He'll be used as a backup to Ben Hartsock.

To clear room for Peelle and Gilbert, the Falcons released tight end Jason Rader and linebacker Tony Taylor. Atlanta also filled out its practice squad by signing defensive end Sean Conover and running back Kenneth Darby.