NFC North Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• Kentucky CB Lonnie Johnson Jr. said he felt good about his formal interview with the Chicago Bears at the Senior Bowl. (Chase Goodbread)

Packers

• Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com writes that while Golden Tate is a good slot receiver, his age and a possible decline in his ability could make it tough for the Packers to commit to paying him the kind of money he’ll be seeking as a free agent. 
• Instead, Dougherty could see Cole Beasley being an option for Green Bay if his asking price is reasonable. 
• This is, of course, assuming the Packers don’t re-sign WR Randall Cobb, who will be a free agent. 

Vikings

• The Athletic’s Arif Hasan expects that the Vikings — with only $10.9 million in cap space — to allow RBs Latavius Murray and Ameer Abdullah, G Tom Compton, C Brett Jones and S George Iloka to walk in free agency. 
• Hasan writes that the Vikings could explore trading or releasing both S Andrew Sendejo and OL Mike Remmers to free up cap space. 
• Hasan identifies DE Everson Griffen and OL Riley Reiff as candidates for restructures for the Vikings this offseason. 
• Another avenue to create cap space for the Vikings would be to offer extensions to CB Trae Waynes and WR Adam Thielen, per Hasan.