NFC North Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune lists the Bears’ realistic options at quarterback in free agency as Rams QB Blake Bortles, Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater, Chiefs QB Chad Henne, Redskins QB Case Keenum, Giants QB Eli Manning, Titans QB Marcus Mariota and Chiefs QB Matt Moore.
• Campbell mentions that Chicago could also explore potential trades for Raiders QB Derek Carr, Bengals QB Andy Dalton, Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Broncos QB Joe Flacco, Jaguars QB Nick Foles, Dolphins QB Josh Rosen, Redskins QB Alex Smith or Chargers QB Tyrod Taylor this offseason.

Packers

• According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers worked out CFL DB DaShaun Amos on Monday. 

Vikings

The Vikings will face a number of pivotal decisions this offseason, as while Minnesota beat the Saints in a huge playoff win, they came up painfully short against the 49ers that exposed how the team as currently constructed could be maxed out. Minnesota is also maxed out on cap space and will need to make decisions on aging veterans like DE Everson Griffen, DT Linval Joseph and CB Xavier Rhodes, all starters above the age of 30. While those players have been the foundation of Minnesota’s success under HC Mike Zimmer, he acknowledged, “at the end of the day, it ends up being a young man’s game.”

“These players — the ones that have been with me for six years now — they’ve busted their rear ends, and they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do. And that’s always going to come into play; how you feel about them as a person,” Zimmer said via Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “But I think you have to really look at: ‘He’s a great kid. He’s worked his rear end off. We love him here. Can he still play? Or, if he can still play, at what level is it?’ And then you’ve got to match that with the salary and every other thing, and match it with the salary cap. So there’s so many different variables.”