NFC Notes: Bears, Buccaneers, Eagles

Bears

Bears director of player personnel Josh Lucas said that they had Iowa OL James Daniels as a first-round talent in this year’s draft and never thought he’d be available to them.

“We had him as a first-round player,” Lucas said of Daniels, via NBC Chicago. “You never know. Every team’s going to have different flavors with interior linemen. It’s just one of those things that you hope he’s there. But based on our grades, based on where we saw the top 32 players in the draft, we definitely weren’t anticipating him being there.”

Buccaneers

• According to Greg Auman, the Buccaneers are “really excited” about second-round RB Ronald Jones‘ big-play ability and could split carries with RB Peyton Barber.
• Jones said that he thinks he’s doing “pretty well” in terms of learning pass protection calls, which should go a long way towards him seeing a lot of playing time this year: “I think right now I’m just still identifying [protection calls] based on the schemes that we’re running and things like that. Once we put the pads on we’ll really see, but I think right now I’m doing pretty well.” (Buccaneers.com)

Eagles

• Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advance Media expects Eagles CB Jalen Mills to take over for CB Patrick Robinson as the team’s nickel corner and cover the slot in five-cornerback formations.
• Shorr-Parks mentions that Eagles CB Ronald Darby, who is entering a contract year, could be the team’s top outside cornerback. Darby reportedly looked good during OTAs and minicamp.
• Regarding 2017 second-round CB Sidney Jones, Shorr-Parks believes he has the potential to become one of the best defensive backs in the league and could make a “big impact” if he can remain healthy.
• At safety, Shorr-Parks admits that there are going to be questions about Rodney McLeod‘s future with the team beyond this season, as he’s set to carry a cap figure of $10 million for the 2019 season. The Eagles could free up $5 million of cap room by releasing him.
• Shorr-Parks says that veteran S Chris Maragos is “definitely on the hot seat heading into training camp.” Should the Eagles cut Maragos, they would save $1.5 million of cap space.