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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 17th 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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It was far too easy to run on the Carolina Panthers during the 2012 season.

So new general manager Dave Gettleman shored up the interior of Carolina’s defensive line with the team’s first two selections of the 2013 NFL draft by taking defensive tackles Star Lotulelei out of Utah and Kawann Short from Purdue.

Between the two new Panthers that’s 610 pounds of what Gettleman hopes is lane-clogging mass.

Carolina added five players to its roster through the draft, but now has to get to 90 players to fill out its offseason roster. Enter undrafted free agents.

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The Atlanta Falcons attacked their biggest positional need in the draft when they moved up eight spots to take Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant in the first round with pick No. 22 and then followed that up in the second round with Southeastern Louisiana cornerback Robert Alford with pick No. 60.

The Falcons selected eight players in all during the 2013 NFL draft, but they still need to fill an offseason roster that can grow all the way to 90 players.

That’s where undrafted free agents come in.

If a college player didn’t hear his name called between Thursday and Saturday, he’s free to sign with any team that’s willing to give him a roster spot. In a sense, this is a shot for the college player to pick the best opportunity for him. The ultimate goal is to make the final roster after training camp.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added safety Dashon Goldson in March and then made another huge upgrade Sunday by adding cornerback Darrelle Revis.

It’s been a busy offseason for repairing the Bucs defensive backfield.

Tampa Bay’s secondary was Swiss cheese last year, giving up a league-worst 4,951 yards through the air. Bringing in Goldson and Revis is a marked improvement, but it’s still not enough.

The long-anticipated deal where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trade for Revis has finally gone through, the team announced after Revis landed in Tampa and underwent a physical.

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The 2013 regular-season schedule for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been released by the NFL.

For some time the Buccaneers have known who they would play in 2013, but it wasn’t until April 18 that the dates, times and television determinations were released to the public.

Injuries took their toll and then Tampa Bay’s normal December swoon occurred as the team finished in a tie for second place in the NFC South with a 7-9 record. While 7-9 shouldn’t have been a disappointing season for a rebuilding team, it was. The Bucs fan base needs to see some improvement in 2013 from this roster that’s growing evermore talented.

Here is a look at the complete 2013 Buccaneers schedule with a game-by-game analysis and prediction.