NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

Bears GM Ryan Pace said he believes replacing Adrian Amos with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix can be a “win-win” for them.

“A lot of times if it gets to that point (where the agent and player) can say hey, I want another bite at the apple if I play well and sometimes it’s financially advantageous for us too,” Pace said, via NBC Chicago. “And hey let’s just be honest, usually these one-year deals, they are very motivated and he has the right makeup and character to come in and play well. And he fits well into the defense and obviously the familiarity with [former Alabama teammate] Eddie Jackson, I think that helps a lot too.”

• Missouri WR Emmanuel Hall will visit the Bears this week. (Alex Schiffer)

Lions

• According to Kyle Meinke, the partial list of players the Lions have brought in for pre-draft visits so far includes Texas A&M TE Jace Sternberger, Kentucky DE Josh Allen, Washington S Taylor Rapp, Hawaii WR John Ursua, Washington TE Drew Sample, Arizona State WR N’Keal Harry and Iowa TE Noah Fant
• Vanderbilt CB Joejuan Williams will join that list on Tuesday, per Ian Rapoport.
• Ian Rapoport reports that the Lions worked out Marshall DL Juwon Young.

Packers

On Monday, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers addressed the report from Tyler Dunne of B/R during an interview with ESPN Milwaukee and called the story a “smear attack.”

“I want to say two things: One, if they knew that, why would they offer me a contract last year?” Rodgers said, via ESPN.com. “And two, which goes into my second central thesis point that I’m going to take down, is if I really disliked Mike so much, why would I re-sign knowing that if I play well and we do what we do around here — we made the playoffs eight straight years and then I got hurt and we missed the playoffs — it’s going to be me and Mike my entire career? So if I really disliked him that much, do you think I’d re-sign? Is the money that important to me? I’ll tell you it’s not. Quality of life is important.”

Rodgers admitted that there were disagreements between him and HC Mike McCarthy, but they worked them out over time. 

“The beauty in our relationship was that it grew year after year and we learned how to communicate with each other,” Rodgers said. “The beauty in our on-the-field relationship was that there was a ton of trust. When I read stuff like, ‘I’d disrespect him by changing all these plays,’ I had a lot of latitude. He knew that and I knew that. I called the two-minute, I’d call stretches of no-huddle offense. … A lot of times, he’d send two plays in. ‘Hey, do you like this or that?’ That’s what it grew. The trust level was really high. I know it might make it tough on a play-caller when I’m going in a no-huddle period or I’m going in a two-minute of knowing exactly what’s called, but that’s the trust that we had and that’s why I appreciate getting to play for him for so many years.”

As for his conversation with president Mark Murphy about the decision to hire Matt LaFleur as head coach, Rodgers denied that Murphy told him to not be the problem. 

“He said, ‘Hey I know you talked to Gutey already, we’re excited about Matt, there’s going to be some changes, but it’s going to be great, glad you feel good about it and excited about the future moving forward,‘” Rodgers said. “I said, ‘Yeah Mark, I know it’s been a good process, you guys interviewed a lot of guys but I’m excited that you guys feel great about him and I had a good conversation and it’s going to be a great thing moving forward.’”

• The Packers lead the NFL with six players earning workout bonuses of $500,000 or more this week. No team has more total workout bonuses than Green Bay’s $5.7555 million. (Field Yates)
• Washington OT Kaleb McGary will visit the Packers Tuesday. (Ian Rapoport)