No division in football has undergone more upheaval than the NFC South, where every team will enter the 2022 season with either a new head coach or a new projected starting quarterback. The team with the greatest claim to stability? It’s the one whose coach and Hall of Fame tight end retired—and whose quarterback retired, too, only to reverse course after 40 days, and then took a chunk of the summer off.
The Bucs’ change at the top should not be that radical, because Todd Bowles had been Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator for three seasons before he was promoted to replace head coach Bruce Arians. And Tom Brady, 45, is the ultimate stabilizer. Any hand-wringing over his age seems foolish given his continued level of excellence; last year he threw for a career-high 5,316 yards. But it is fair to wonder whether he will be affected by the retirement of Rob Gronkowski and the questionable status of receiver Chris Godwin, who tore his ACL last December and will likely miss time early in the season, or by season-ending injuries to two interior linemen, center Ryan Jensen and left guard Aaron Stinnie. The NFL’s fifth-best scoring defense returns largely intact, with the only change of note being that veteran free agent Akiem Hicks replaces Ndamukong Suh on the defensive line.
New Orleans will be led by someone other than Sean Payton for the first time in 15 seasons, but the team is not simply tearing down and starting over under new coach Dennis Allen, promoted from defensive coordinator. When they lost veteran safeties Marcus Williams (to free agency) and Malcolm Jenkins (to retirement), the Saints went out and added replacements in Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. The defense, the team’s strength, is still loaded with veteran talent, including two 30-something All-Pros, linebacker Demario Davis and edge rusher Cam Jordan. On offense New Orleans replaced another free-agent loss, tackle Terron Armstead, by trading for a second first-round pick and grabbing Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa. While the receiving corps should be strong, with a Michael Thomas returning and being joined by Chris Olave, the speedy 11th pick from Ohio State, and new slot man Jarvis Landry, quarterback is a question. Jameis Winston tore his ACL in October; backing him up is recent Bears discard Andy Dalton.
