When the NFL season came to a close after Super Bowl 56, many people saw the NFC South as a potential dumpster fire.
The New Orleans Saints lost head coach Sean Payton after he announced he was leaving the team.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady retired before Super Bowl 56 began.
The Carolina Panthers looked horrible with Cam Newton and Sam Darnold quarterbacking.
Then we have the Atlanta Falcons, who would lose Calvin Ridley for the 2022 season due to sports betting on NFL games.
However, the 2022 NFL offseason put some juice back into two of the four NFC South teams.
Tom Brady Comes Back From Retirement, Causing Other Players To Return As Well
Brady spent a whole 40 days retired before deciding to return to football.
The record-breaking football that Tom Brady threw for his 624th touchdown pass was just put up for auction. For the 40 days that Brady was retired, it was thought to be the most valuable football in the world @BN9 pic.twitter.com/boc6hl3R9S
— Angie Angers (@angie_angers) April 25, 2022
His return not only crushed the hopes of striking it rich for one person but also crushed the hopes of the NFC South.
It also was enough for players like Leonard Fournette to re-sign with the Buccaneers.
These things help give the Bucs the best chances to make the NFL playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl.
Had Brady not returned, the team would have been without a proven quarterback and possibly without Fournette and others.
His return makes other players want to return with the greatest quarterback of all time still in Tampa Bay.
Saints Re-Sign Jameis Winston And Sign Jarvis Landry
The Saints started off with Payton quitting in 2022 while trying to trade for Deshaun Watson.
However, after missing out on the Watson sweepstakes, the team decided to re-sign Jameis Winston.
His 2021 season was cut short because of an injury.
That season saw him playing the best football ever in his NFL career.
POTENTIAL TIER CONT.
19. Jameis Winston
– Looked good before injury
– Better decision-making
– He can make some big-time plays
– Just have to clean up the decision-making18. Carson Wentz
– doesn't understand situational football
– talent is there but doesn't play experienced— Rahul Ramachandran (@R_Ramachandran1) May 14, 2022
Now he has a chance with his return to New Orleans to pick up where he left off.
He also has Jarvis Landry, a former LSU standout receiver and a product of Louisiana since birth.
Landry gives him an added weapon in his arsenal of offensive players.
The addition helps heat up the NFC South for the Saints.
Panthers And Falcons Can’t Compare To Saints And Bucs
The NFC South is a two-team race because the Panthers and Falcons are light-years behind the Saints and Bucs.
Carolina doesn’t have a winning quarterback in Darnold.
Atlanta no longer has Matt Ryan and is without their top receiver for 2022.
While Carolina is trying to rebuild their defense, they aren’t clicking on offense.
However, Atlanta is completely lost on both offense and defense.
While those two teams will find the bottom of the NFC South, New Orleans and Tampa Bay will fight for the top spot.
They made all the moves to keep themselves in playoff contention.
With Winston still growing as a quarterback and Brady having savvy skills, those two teams always have a chance.
They also provide some good rivalry games with each other.
With them, NFL fans get excitement and entertainment in packed stadiums.
With the Falcons and Panthers, there’s little excitement and mostly empty seats because of their poor on-field play.
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