A couple weeks ago, we wrote about the NFL finalizing plans for a regular season game to take place in Germany. Well, according to Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, the home team of that game will be none other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No word has been announced yet on who their opponent will be, but the Super Bowl LV champions will be present at FC Bayern Munich Stadium next season. The NFL will have one more game in Munich and two in Frankfurt over the following three seasons.
The 2022 NFL season will see four other games on foreign soil. In addition to the game in Germany, England will host three games and the league will return to Mexico City for the first time since 2019.
Here are a few other notes from around the NFC, starting with a note out of the Lone Star State:
- Cowboys’ wide receiver Amari Cooper carried a $22M cap hit in the 2021 NFL season, the highest of any receiver last year. His contract is set up to continue carrying that weight for the remaining three years of his deal. What changes is that, were Dallas to cut the free agent addition before the 2021 season, they would be left with $28M of dead cap, whereas cutting him before March 20, 2022, would leave them with $6M of dead cap. Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News wrote about the Cowboys’ designed “escape hatch” in an article this past week.
- The Panthers mutually parted ways with director of pro personnel Matt Allen this weekend, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Allen started as a scouting assistant in 2009 and worked his way up until he was promoted into his most recent role in 2017. Allen was one of the last few holdovers from the Jerry Richardson-era, as Allen was actually a grandson of Richardson.
- After spending the 2021 season on injured reserve, tight end Jason Croom is progressing steadily in his recovery from a torn ACL, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. This was Croom’s second full season spent on IR as the former undrafted free agent also sat out his sophomore season in Buffalo. He is set to hit the free agent market as he works toward a full recovery.
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