NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah says with their two second-round picks, the Bears could still capitalize by selecting a player such as UL-Lafayette G Robert Hunt, Minnesota S Antoine Winfield Jr., or Southern Illinois S Jeremy Chinn.
• Bears OT Germain Ifedi’s one-year, $1,047,500 deal includes a signing bonus of $137,500 and a $910,000 base salary. (Field Yates)
• Baylor WR Denzel Mims said that the NFL teams he has talked to the most are the Eagles, Bills, Bears Colts, Jets, Cowboys, Rams, and Titans. (Stephen Simcox)
• The Bears hosted Auburn DL Marlon Davidson for a Top 30 visit before the shutdown. (Justin Melo)
• Colorado LB Davion Taylor had a pre-draft meeting with the Bears via video conference. (Justin Melo)

Lions

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia writes if New England indeed used the franchise tag on G Joe Thuney with the intention of trading him, sending him to the Lions for their third-round pick makes a lot of sense given the familiarity between the two staffs. 
• The Patriots need all the picks they can get as they look to retool, while Thuney would fill a major need at guard for the Lions as HC Matt Patricia faces a win-now ultimatum for 2020 by ownership in his third year in charge. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes that it’s no secret the Lions are open for business with the No. 3 overall pick. 

Packers

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia says there’s too much noise around a potential trade of Rams WR Brandin Cooks for the team not to be shopping him, and adds an exchange with the Packers of Cooks for a 2020 fourth-round pick and 2021 conditional pick could be enough to get the deal done. 
• While Cooks has been traded twice for a first-round pick, his concussion issues in 2019 have likely dropped his value. However, Kapadia says he still makes sense for the Packers as they look to maximize their window to win with 36-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers. 

Vikings

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia says the Browns sending a third-round pick to the Vikings for S Anthony Harris makes sense for all parties. Cleveland gets a Pro Bowl safety to fill a need and has both the cap space and extra third-round pick to make it happen. 
• Meanwhile, the Vikings can better allocate the cap space they have tied up in Harris now by trading him rather than signing the 29-year-old to an extension, as that’s the only way to lower his cap hit while on the tag. Adding an extra third-round pick is also a solid return. 
• The Vikings are trying to set up a FaceTime interview with Louisville OT Mekhi Becton. (Darren Wolfson)