As the 2013 NFL season approaches for the New Orleans Saints, head coach Sean Payton is once again the focus of the Saints' sideline.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe Payton's season-long suspension in 2012 for his role in the pay-to-injure scandal involving the Saints was the unnecessary flexing of commissioner Roger Goodell's muscles, was laughable or not steep enough.

What matters now is that the Saints and Payton must find a way to put the past behind and push through into a new season.

Working through Payton’s punishment last season wasn’t easy on the franchise nor the coach. Filling in for Payton was a revolving door of coaches that changed so frequently it had to be hard for the team to find a rhythm.

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Back in April, I examined what the New Orleans Saints' new-look defense might bring to the table in 2013. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will unfurl a 3-4 defensive scheme with a lot of movement and attacking options for the Saints to get at opposing quarterbacks.

As the installation process is underway in New Orleans at Organized Team Activities (OTAs), it looks as if movement might be an understatement. Ryan’s defense has shown pre-snap organized chaos, and that’s been fantastic to see.

Thursday’s first play of 11-on-11 drills featured a unique look from Ryan’s defense, according to Mike Triplett of the Times-Picayune:

Lofton registered just one sack last season and has only four over the last three seasons. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Lofton ranked dead last among inside linebackers who played at least 50 percent of their respective team’s snaps. Lofton had one sack, two quarterback hits and four hurries on 101 pass-rush snaps. He just didn’t spend that much time in the backfield affecting the passer.

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Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams restructured his contract Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Sports, and saved the team $3.2 million this season.

The move gives the Panthers room to maneuver in the coming months in case Gettleman finds a free agent acquisition that could help the team. But the Panthers general manager won’t continue the trend of his predecessor, Marty Hurney, of freely spending money with little regard for the future costs.

Any money tossed around in free agency—or on players currently on Carolina’s roster—going forward will be intelligently spent and with the future salary cap in mind. The Panthers are still in dire straits in regard to the current salary cap nightmare. But Williams’ new contract helps a bunch.

The real savings for the Panthers come in 2014 and 2015.

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The draft-day acquisition of running back Jeff Demps from the New England Patriots isn’t going to bring the intended results for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s likely not going to work out at all.

On the final day of the 2013 NFL draft, the Patriots and Buccaneers sealed a deal to swap running backs. New England got forgotten backup LeGarrette Blount and Tampa Bay got a seventh-round pick and Demps, who was signed as an undrafted free agent last season by the Patriots.

Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said Demps was a throw-in portion of the trade anyway; Demps wasn’t really even the intended target of the trade, said Tampa Bay Times beat reporter Stephen Holder via Sulia.

That’s shrewd on the part of Dominik, adding potential value to a deal he would have made without Demps involved. Tampa Bay fans have to look at the deal that way. If not, if they expect Demps to come in and turn into an All-Pro instantly, disappointment will ensue.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Ronde Barber had an illustrious 16-year NFL career, one that came to an end on May 8 when he announced his retirement. He was around long enough to play against every one of the top 10 receivers on the NFL’s all-time career reception list, an assemblage of talent that starts with Jerry Rice and includes eight receivers who caught at least 1,000 passes in their careers.

Looking back at all the talent Barber faced during his NFL tenure, he told Peter King of Sports Illustrated that Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith tops his list.

In Smith’s 12 seasons on the field, he’s played 17 games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and caught 89 passes (not all while being covered by Barber) for 1,298 yards (Pro Football Reference). That’s akin to a full season’s worth of work against the Buccaneers, so yes, Barber knows Smith well.

Smith’s currently sits at No. 27 on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 772 catches, just 196 behind Reggie Wayne,, who caught 968 passes during his career. He still has three years, and a player option fourth, left on his contract (Spotrac). If Smith decides to play all four seasons, he needs to average just over 49 catches per season to pass Wayne land in the top 10 all time.

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Ronde Barber, the last bastion of defensive prowess from the golden era of Tampa Bay Buccaneers football, told Fox Sports' NFL analyst Jay Glazer Wednesday that he is officially retiring.

Barber was drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft by the Buccaneers and spent 16 seasons in a pewter jersey, pulling down 47 interceptions while playing in 241 games. The 38-year-old was selected to five Pro Bowls and was the last remaining member of the 2002 Super Bowl-winning Buccaneers with the team.

Last season Barber moved from cornerback to free safety in order to keep playing. With the addition of free agent Dashon Goldson this season, Barber would have been relegated to backup duty. Instead of sticking around for a 17^th season, Barber decided to call it quits.

Tampa Bay’s secondary was porous at best in 2012, giving up a league-worst 4,758 passing yards. To bolster the unit the Buccaneers traded away their first-round draft pick this year for cornerback Darrell Revis and added Goldson at safety. They’ll join cornerback Eric Wright and strong safety Mark Barron to make up a much improved unit in 2013.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added arguably their most important piece of the 2013 NFL draft well before the draft actually kicked off.

Tampa Bay traded its first-round draft pick prior to the draft in a deal that brought cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Buccaneers. But that didn’t stop general manager Mark Dominik from adding to his secondary when the second round rolled around.

Mississippi State cornerback Johnthan Banks was added with pick No. 43, and now Tampa Bay’s secondary—save second-year safety Mark Barron—has a completely new look to the unit that gave up an NFL-high 4,758 passing yards in 2012.

With NFL rosters expanded to 90 players for the offseason, the six college players drafted over the weekend will be joined by a plethora of undrafted free agents.

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The New Orleans Saints had a number of distinct needs they needed to fill through the 2013 NFL draft, and most revolved around the team’s decision to switch to a 3-4 defensive scheme in 2013.

Texas strong safety Kenny Vaccaro was the Saints’ pick in the first round at No. 15. He’ll help stop opponents from running into and through the middle and back end of the New Orleans defense.

But there’s still more work to do as the Saints only drafted five players over the weekend.

Enter the undrafted free agent.

The Saints are allowed to add players (all the way up to 90) to fill their offseason roster. Which players do the Saints have their eyes on?

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