Who’s saying what … Normally with the draft less than 40 days one would expect the smoke and mirrors type information and disinformation to start to fly with some regularity, however, so far its been very quiet this year. Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith did cause some head-scratching when he was quoted over the weekend as telling the NFL Network the Buccaneers might surprise people with this year’s #1 pick. Said Smith, whose Buccaneers have been thought to have been locked in on Florida State QB Jameis Winston with this year’s first pick for some time now: “I can see why people would assume we’re gonna take a quarterback. There are two excellent quarterbacks that are available at the top and when you get a chance to draft someone like that, most of the time, people do. But there are other good players in the draft also. I think it’s a deep draft for defensive line. Like last year, there are a lot of great receivers that are coming out. I think, just overall, the amount of athletes coming into each incoming class, it’s pretty deep for players that can make an immediate impact.” That had some analysts wondering if Tampa Bay was perhaps wavering on their supposed commitment to Winston – and by all accounts they have yet to tell the player that he will be the pick – or that Smith was signalling to other teams that the top pick still could be had in a trade for the right price. Of course, Smith could also be blowing a little smoke Winston’s way as the Buccaneers can open negotiations with any of the top prospects before the draft. Meanwhile, New Orleans G.M. Mickey Loomis told USA today on Monday that star QB Drew Brees wasn’t going anywhere. There has been some speculation that the 36-year-old Brees might be on the block after the salary-cap stretched Saints dealt star TE Jimmy Graham to Seattle earlier this month. The corollary to the rumor was that the Saints would then package some of their growing haul of picks – New Orleans has 5 of the first 78 picks in this year’s draft including the 13th and 31st picks in the opening round – in order to move up and grab Oregon QB Marcus Mariota to replace Brees. The more realistic buzz for the Saints, though, is that while they are unlikely to deal Brees and go after Mariota, they could be tempted to move up int the top 10 in order to select Alabama WR Amari Cooper. Stay tuned.
