Does Tom Brady's Retirement Open the Door for the Panthers?

The G.O.A.T. officially announced his retirement on Tuesday. A look at what it means for the Panthers and the rest of the NFC South.

Tuesday morning, Tom Brady made his retirement official after 22 years of playing in the NFL. Love him or hate him, I think we can all agree that he is the best to ever do it and there's really not much of a debate. He won 7 Super Bowls in his career and has made it to the big game 10 times. He also became the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl when he and the Bucs hoisted the Lombardi trophy a year ago. 

With Tom Brady retiring and Saints coach Sean Payton "stepping away", the NFC South appears to be wide open. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers still have a ton of talent on both sides of the ball but if they can't land a veteran in free agency or via trade, they may be forced to start Kyle Trask and I don't think that's the route they want to go. 

Wide receiver Chris Godwin is set to become a free agent this offseason and if he wants big money to be the No. 1 option somewhere else, the Bucs are going to have a hard time retaining him. Not to mention that with Brady's retirement, this raises the question of whether or not TE Rob Gronkowski still wants to play. He had already retired once a few years ago and Brady was the one who brought him out of retirement to join him in Tampa Bay. You'd have to think that he may be the next one to hang up the cleats. 

Fortunately for Tampa, they have one of the best offensive lines and defensive fronts in football. What they do at quarterback will be the determining factor for this team. The talent is there, they just need someone capable of steering the ship.

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan is getting older and the Falcons now have four consecutive losing seasons. At some point, Atlanta needs to take a quarterback in the draft to have Ryan's replacement sitting and learning behind him. 

As far as the offensive line is concerned, it's still a mess even though it seems like they've been working on getting it fixed for years. They must get better up front to even have a chance to put together another winning season with Matt Ryan under center. The only problem is, they have so many areas to focus on when it comes to the offense. Is Calvin Ridley going to play next year? If so, is it for another team? If that's the case, they need to go out and sign a veteran or two to replace his production. Kyle Pitts could emerge as the No. 1 option in the passing game but it would be nice to have someone at the X spot that they can rely on. Running back is another area of concern. Mike Davis is a decent back but he's not someone you feel comfortable with handing the ball off to 20 times a game. 

Defensively, they have a few pieces to build around such as DE Grady Jarrett, LB Foyesade Oluokun, and CB A.J. Terrell but that's about it. They really had problems stopping the run in 2021 and unless massive personnel changes are made this offseason, it will be a problem again in 2022. The Falcons are probably the least likely to reap the benefits of Brady retiring. 

New Orleans Saints

Sean Payton "stepping away" caught a lot of people by surprise but this could be a temporary move so that he could be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But back to the Saints, this team is still loaded with talent. Whoever takes over Payton's place is going to be set up for success. Some may question if Jameis Winston is the answer at quarterback but the team did go 5-2 with him under center this past season. The coaching hire will play a big factor on if he returns with the organization next year. 

Michael Thomas will be healthy next year and Alvin Kamara is a top three running back in the league. The offense is not short on playmakers by any means. The biggest problem the Saints face is the salary cap as they are currently over $75 million over the cap. As much as it would pain Saints fans, it might be a good opportunity to just tear down the whole thing and start over. If they were to go this route, I'd still expect them to keep Thomas and Kamara but it would take them out of the picture of the divisional crown. 

Can the Panthers take over the South?

Again, a lot of this will depend on what Tampa Bay and New Orleans do at quarterback but the opportunity is there for Carolina. Sure, the Panthers have their own issues at quarterback but if they can reload the offensive line and give Darnold some protection, it would be a start. 

Defensively, the Panthers have a young, yet very talented group that finished the season with the second-best defense in the league, allowing just 305.9 yards per game and ranked 4th in pass defense giving up just 192.1 yards per game. GM Scott Fitterer will have to make some tough decision this offseason, mainly on which corner to bring back. Donte Jackson or Stephon Gilmore? He told the media a few weeks back that he would love to bring back both if the numbers all work out but to pay both of them plus Haason Reddick, and invest into the offensive line seems almost impossible. 

With the Panthers offense, it's almost like what comes first? The chicken or the egg? Should they fix the offensive line first or make an upgrade at quarterback? To do both in the same offseason seems a little unrealistic. If I had to guess, I would say the Panthers roll with Darnold since he's pretty much untradeable with that $18 million price tag and you get better up front. It's not ideal but nothing in the NFL ever is. 

The Panthers' roster improved from 2020 to 2021. Yes, they won five games in both seasons but the overall talent was better. Fitterer and Rhule are going to have to crush the draft and free agency to get this team headed in the right direction. If they do, they'll be in position to compete for a division title within the next couple of years. 

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