NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Former Bears G Kyle Long explained that his decision to retire came down to an inability to stay healthy.

“I had an incredible journey and experience in the NFL,” Long said, via NFL.com. “It was like nothing I’ve ever done before. Met great people, done amazing things, but at the end of the day I wasn’t able to hold up my end of the bargain as a football player. When you sign a contract and they say we’re gonna give you X-amount of dollars, you gotta do your job and I wasn’t able to be healthy enough and to perform my job well enough to protect Trubisky and get the running backs through the holes.”

Lions

• Per Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper says he doesn’t expect Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah to last past the Giants at No. 4 in the first round. The Lions at No. 3 overall are also an option. 

Packers

• NFL Media’s Gregg Rosenthal lists Packers OT Bryan Bulaga as a possible candidate for the franchise tag. 

Vikings

• NFL Media’s Gregg Rosenthal says right now the Vikings don’t have the cap space to be able to franchise tag S Anthony Harris, though that could change.  
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes that Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes and DE Everson Griffen are unlikely to return in 2020 and their departure will save the Vikings $8.1 million and $13.1 million, respectively. 
• According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, the Vikings are expecting WR Stefon Diggs to be on the roster in 2020 and have no reason to explore a trade for Diggs even if he’s not thrilled with the offense: “There is no incentive here for the Minnesota Vikings to get rid of Stefon Diggs.” 
• With regard to Diggs’ behavior on social media recently, including apparently removing references to the Vikings on his social media account, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero says people involved say this is just, “Diggs being Diggs.”