Buccaneers

Buccaneers GM Jason Licht likes what he has seen from second-round CB Benjamin Morrison and third-round CB Jacob Parrish and thinks they will play significant roles in the team’s defense as rookies.

“Those guys have been equally as impressive,” Licht said. “It’s been fun to watch. I don’t want to already stamp them, but we feel very, very good about them helping us out a lot this year. Plus Zyon’s having an amazing offseason as well, so there’s not going to be — Very few teams, I think, have three young corners with that much talent right now.”

Panthers

Veteran WR Adam Thielen said they want to emulate previous Panthers teams and make a “deep playoff run” in 2025, and thinks players are tired of the stigma surrounding Carolina. 

“Guys are finally sick of being the same ol’ Carolina Panthers,” Thielen said, via David Newton of ESPN. “We want to get back to what they did here in the past, from ’15 and some of those other years where they made deep playoff runs, when they had the crowd involved and the city pumped up. That just shows guys are sick of the same ol’, same ol’.” 

Carolina HC Dave Canales said Young has a “defiance to him” in their offseason program, 

“He just has a defiance to him,” Canales said. “That’s just kind of his way of competing. He’s not super-animated with it, but he definitely thrives off of that, feeds off that energy. He takes chances when he can, because Jaycee is trying to bait him into throw the ball over there. But it does bring a level of confidence to the guys, ‘Hey, we’re dangerous when we’re out there.’”

Panthers CB Jaycee Horn said there’s been a lot of trash talk between Young and their defense and thinks it’s bringing out the best in players. 

“If you’ve got a guy dominating you all practice, talking trash to you, you ain’t going to have a choice but either go hard and go back at him or go in a hole,” Horn said. “A lot of guys out there ain’t gonna do that.”

Saints

The Saints brought in a new coaching staff led by HC Kellen Moore and DC Brandon Staley on the defensive end. New Orleans S Tyrann Mathieu praised Staley’s defenses for their effort and ability to keep the defensive backs engaged. 

“I always thought his defenses played hard,” Mathieu said, via John DeShazier of the team’s YouTube. “They moved around a lot, even the back end perspective. I always felt like his safeties were involved in the game. They play a lot of top down, I think that’s exciting.”

Mathieu also had great things to say about Moore. He believes his history playing quarterback in the NFL is perfect for where the league’s at. 

“People have watched (Moore) from afar throughout the league; when he was in Dallas, it was one of the highest scoring offenses and when he went to Philadelphia – Philadelphia was kind of struggling offensively for a minute and then he came, and then they went back to the Super Bowl.

“I do think he has some type of impact on teams. He played the quarterback position, so he knows ball. That’s a good perspective to have, because it is an offensive league.”

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