Bears
Bears’ HC Matt Nagy says that it was hard to move on from QB Mitchell Trubisky, who is now with the Bills. Nagy added that he appreciated how gracefully Trubisky handled the team deciding to go in another direction.
“I’m indebted to Mitch and what he’s done for so many different reasons,” Nagy said, via Chris Emma of 670 The Score. “It’s hard to go through these processes. I care so much about him. It didn’t work out here. For different reasons, it didn’t work out. But I certainly appreciate the way that he handled everything.”
Nagy also made it clear that the Bears view veteran QB Andy Dalton as an upgrade over Trubisky, saying of the quarterback spot: “That’s one of the areas of our team where we feel like we’re improving.”
Bears’ GM Ryan Pace also weighed in on the situation involving Dalton.
“The things we like as you look at it, obviously his experience—he’s a nine-year starter, he’s been to three Pro Bowls, a lot of leadership with Andy Dalton, his decision-making,” Pace said, via Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “He’s won a lot of games in this league. Andy’s been a durable player, too. I think that’s something that’s understated. And I think really Andy fits our style of offense. When you go through it with our scouts and coaches, he can handle the drop-back game, he can handle the RPOs, the play-actions, the movements. And we just felt, as we went through those free-agent quarterbacks, he’s one of the more complete quarterbacks that we evaluated in free agency, and we’re excited to have him.”
“We’re excited to have him, and again, that went into the evaluation process,” Pace said. “He’s been a starter in the league for a long time and produced at a high level for a long time. That’s all of us collectively in the building—coaches and scouts—coming to that conclusion as we went through the free-agency process, and yeah, he’s our starting quarterback as we head into the season.”
Another player that Pace is glad to have on the roster is WR Allen Robinson, who received the franchise tag from the Bears this offseason.
“As I said before, the league gives us that tool for a reason and not just with us, you see it with multiple teams using the franchise tag,” Pace said. “We tagged him for a reason. He’s a really good player. We’re glad he’s part of our team. We know he’ll be here in 2021. Again, he’s a focal part of our offense. It’s a resource that we have that we use and we’ll continue to work through it.”
- Tennessee C Brandon Kennedy has had a virtual meeting with the Bears. (Justin Melo)
Lions
- Albert Breer notes that Lions’ OC Anthony Lynn was in attendance for Oregon’s pro day, as Detroit was likely taking a look at OT Penei Sewell.
Packers
- The Packers were one of the teams to meet and speak with Oregon CB Deommodore Lenoir at his pro day. (Cam Mellor)
Vikings
The Athletic’s Arif Hasan looks at nine offensive linemen who might be a fit for the Vikings judging by the apparent thresholds they have for size and athleticism at the position. The full list includes:
- Northwestern LT Rashawn Slater
- USC Alijah Vera-Tucker
- Oklahoma State RT Teven Jenkins
- Texas OT Samuel Cosmi
- Notre Dame OT Liam Eichenberg
- Wisconsin-Whitewater OL Quinn Meinerz
- BYU OT Brady Christensen
- Illinois OL Kendrick Green
- Tennessee G Trey Smith
Hasan lists some notable players who missed the thresholds for Minnesota — which probably doesn’t eliminate them from the Vikings’ board but does make them less likely to be drafted — including Alabama OL Alex Leatherwood, Oklahoma C Creed Humphrey, Stanford OT Walker Little, Alabama G Deonte Brown, Cincinnati OT James Hudson and North Dakota State OT Dillon Radunz.
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