By Dan Parr
April 26, 2008

Maligned as the laughingstock of the league in recent years for its lack of a consistent winner, three teams in the NFC South aggressively sought to reverse their fortunes on Saturday.

The Panthers, Saints and Falcons each made first-round trades and might have upset the balance of power yet again in the division, which has never had a back-to-back champion since its creation in 2002, as they chase the Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay, on the other hand, may have made the most questionable pick of the South Division’s six first-round choices, taking CB Aqib Talib, whose character has come into question since PFW reported he admitted to testing positive for marijuana three times at Kansas.

The Falcons took Matt Ryan with the third pick and then traded into the Redskins’ spot at No. 21 to get OT Sam Baker. After Carolina selected RB Jonathan Stewart at No. 13, it completed a swap with the Eagles to take OT Jeff Otah with the 19th pick. The Saints nabbed DT Sedrick Ellis after trading up from the 10th spot to receive New England’s seventh choice.

In order to make those deals, each team had to surrender valuable picks (Carolina sent the Eagles its first-round pick in ’09), but Bucs beware — the Saints, Panthers and Falcons are definitely better, on paper, after a busy Saturday.