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NFC Notes: Tetairoa McMillan, Tyler Shough, Buccaneers Draft Needs, Panthers, Saints
Apr 9, 2026Jonathan ComeauxNFL Trade Rumors
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Buccaneers The Buccaneers haven’t hit on many of their edge rushers in recent years, with OLB YaYa Diaby leading the team in sacks with seven last year. Although GM Jason Licht thinks Diaby and Anthony Nelson are still ascending players, he admits that they need to “focus on” bringing in pass rushers through free agency or the 2026 NFL Draft. “You know, that’s just an area we own. It hasn’t been great,” Licht said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times . “I think Yaya is still a very young, ascending player, and Anthony Nelson still makes clutch plays when his number is called. But that’s one of the areas we need to focus on, whether it’s free agency, the draft or what have you. It’s obvious the NFL is a pressure game. and you need to get pressure on the quarterback. We were in a lot of close, tight games. But in order to take the next step from where we were previous to 2025, I think we need to get more pressure on the quarterback.” Licht points out that losing OLB David Walker’s entire rookie season due to a torn ACL “put a wrench” in their defensive plans last year. “That put a wrench in some things for us last year,” Licht said. ”It’s just one thing we continue to study. Continue to look at not just our team, but other teams, how they develop there. We continually try to figure out what the secret sauce is.” Tampa Bay took two offensive players in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft with WR Emeka Egbuka and C Graham Barton , and there are some questions about whether they will pass on taking a defensive player at the top of this year’s draft, once again. Licht mentioned that there have been years they didn’t have an opportunity to take players they wanted, and they must improve on identifying traits that work for them. “We try to take a look and see where we can do better,” Licht said. “ The process can change a little bit. There’s also been years where you value someone that you don’t have an opportunity to get. I don’t want to say it’s about taking chances and rolling the dice. You try to be as scientific as possible. Not all of them work out, and I’m not naming anybody in particular. But yes, we have taken a look at that, and we need to get better. We always need to get better. I need to do better job of identifying the traits of players that have worked out versus the traits that haven’t.” Panthers Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan made a big impact as a rookie with 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns. Carolina vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis spoke about the pre-draft process with McMillan, saying GM Dan Morgan was “very convincted” in their choice to take him. “We watched his film several times. It was all very good. But Dan was very convicted, like way early, like late September. For me, I’ll watch these guys and I’ll give my opinion based on what I know and what I don’t know. And usually what happens is you’re convicted about a guy in September and then your conviction becomes a lot less in November and then you kind of settle in wherever he ends up (on the draft board) in the spring. And T-Mac didn’t go that way. When that happens, it’s usually a good thing. From my vantage point, I’m afraid of late risers. That was not T-Mac,” Tillis said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. Morgan confirmed he was quickly sold on McMillan and wasn’t going to “overthink” taking him. “You watch the tape and you get super excited about some guys, and other guys you maybe don’t love. But I would say he’s one of…