NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers

• ESPN’s Matt Miller notes that while the 49ers don’t have a glaring need at tight end behind George Kittle, they’ve done a ton of work on this class, which is regarded as especially deep. 
• The 49ers’ first pick isn’t until late in the third round but Miller wouldn’t rule out the team using it on a tight end. 
• Ryan Fowler reports the 49ers are scheduled to host Oregon OLB D.J. Johnson for a top-30 visit on Friday. 
• Fowler also reports San Francisco hosted Appalachian State CB Steven Jones Jr. for a pre-draft visit. 
• According to Justin Melo, the 49ers had a formal meeting with Coastal Carolina CB Lance Boykin.
• Aaron Wilson reports that Utah State QB Logan Bonner worked out for the 49ers while they were in Dallas, Texas to observe the progress of QB Trey Lance‘s recovery.
• Aaron Wilson reports that Michigan WR Ronnie Bell has visited with the 49ers, Chiefs, Lions, Patriots, Saints, and Seahawks. 

Cardinals

Cardinals LB Zaven Collins is looking to take on a bigger leadership role defensively to fill the void being left by retiring DL J.J. Watt.

“The leadership role of last year for me was, I can be a leader when I earn the right to be a leader,” Collins during a press conference. “And guys, I think, that I’ve talked to — JT’s [Jalen Thompson] one of them, Budda [Baker’s] one of them, Zay [Isaiah Simmons] — they trust me, I earned their trust. So midway through the season, I could tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t want to do this,’ or, ‘Let’s do this.’ And Budda would be like, ‘No, we’re doing this.’ So I was like, ‘OK, we’ll do what Budda wants to do.’ But that’s kind of how it goes. But you have to earn your trust. You have to earn your way to be able to argue with those guys. And I think I earned their trust last year. But yes, taking that stepping stone and being a leader is something I definitely want to do.”

Seahawks

Seahawks’ new LB Devin Bush is glad to be playing alongside Bobby Wagner in Seattle and feels their team “can easily win” the NFC West. 

“It’s a new opportunity,” Bush said, via Corbin K. Smith of FanNation. “I think it’s a great place to play football because competition is a big thing out there and just being able to have the opportunity also to play next to Bobby Wagner. The floor is open and I think this division that we’re in, we can easily win it. This is a new chapter.”

Bush said the Seahawks were a potential candidate for him coming out of college in 2019. 

“I knew early on coming out of college that they were a potential candidate, a potential landing spot for me,” Bush said. “I was always intrigued by that with the defense they had. We talked a lot, but obviously it didn’t work out. But things come back around in this business and you never know how things could play out.”

Bush feels he “learned a lot” during his time with the Steelers but it was time to move on.  

“I learned a lot,” Bush said. “Obviously, I wouldn’t say it was up to par. But I know I have my ups and my downs and I think I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about this business. And I learned a lot about what I want out of it. I thank the Steelers for taking a chance on me, and I thank them for the four years that I had here, but it’s obviously time to move on and go to different things and learn some more.”