HEADLINES

Kenny Stills

Saints Shopping Kenny Stills, Others

March 12th, 2015 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

1:43pm: A source with knowledge of the situation tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Drew Brees and Brandin Cooks are essentially the only Saints not being shopped, as the team retools.

1:17pm: The Saints have been one of the league’s more active teams this week, working out trades that shipped a pair of Pro Bowlers, Jimmy Graham and Ben Grubbs, out of New Orleans. And it doesn’t look like they’re done yet. According to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 Washington (via Twitter), the team is exploring trades involving wide receiver Kenny Stills. Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports, meanwhile, hears from a source that the team is shopping practically every player on its roster (Twitter link).

Peter King of TheMMQB.com wrote earlier this week that when Mickey Loomis and Seahawks GM John Schneider discussed trades prior to working out the Graham deal, the New Orleans GM “brought up the names of a couple of Saints receivers.” While King didn’t identify specific players, it certainly sounds like one of those receivers was probably Stills.

Stills, who turns just 23 next month, became an integral part of the Saints’ passing attack in 2014, hauling in 63 passes for 931 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints’ top deep threat, Stills have averaged 16.5 yards per catch since entering the league in 2013, and is on an inexpensive rookie contract for two more years, so I expect the team’s asking price would be fairly high.

NFC Notes: Bucs, Bucannon, Receivers

May 26th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by Rob DiRe

Mike Glennon is the Buccaneers‘ quarterback of the future, despite the arrival of Josh McCown via free agency. After McCown was announced as the starter, trade rumors began to circulate concerning Glennon, but head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht have come to the decision to support the quarterback they inherited, writes Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. They believe Glennon possesses the most important traits needed for a successful quarterback.

“The three things — and Lovie and I were in complete agreement on this — are toughness, intelligence and accuracy,’’ said Licht. “And then arm strength is a distant fourth. Mike showed during this process that he has those three things and he scored very high on those three things.”

Here are some other notes from around the NFC:

  • Although the Buccaneers have had a thin roster the past few seasons, Smith says that one of the most important aspects of winning is depth at multiple positions, writes Cummings. Specifically, Smith spoke about the team’s depth at safety and how impressed he is with the players they have.
  • Cardinals‘ first-round pick Deone Bucannon hasn’t provoked many negative statements from the organization, but head coach Bruce Arians tried to come up with one, writes Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. “(Deone has) only got one problem — He is so much a perfectionist,” said Arians. “It is paralysis by analysis right now because he wants to do everything just perfect.”
  • Lions‘ receiver Ryan Broyles is committed to returning from a ruptured achilles tendon that sidelined him in 2013, writes of Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I’m looking forward to the competition. It’s never scared me away,” said Broyles. “But at the end of the day, we’re here to win. They’re going to put guys in place to help us win.”
  • Saints‘ receiver Kenny Stills is looking to get better in his second season with the team, writes Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. Stills could have an increased role in the offense after finishing 2013 strong, but has new competition as the team traded up to draft Oregon State receiver Brandin Cooks.