NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

Bears’ WR Allen Robinson is set to become a free agent and knows that he will be coveted during this offseason. He doesn’t rule out a return to Chicago but knows that the money must be right regardless of where he chooses to go.

“At this point, I’d pretty much be open to everything on the table,” Robinson said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I’m not 100 percent sure what will happen in the next coming weeks as far as being a free agent and things like that, but as everything stands today, I definitely will open to everything on the table.”

• Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that the Bears are prepared to use the tag on WR Allen Robinson in an effort to continue negotiations. 
• Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic thinks that Dane Brugler has a good fit by mocking Oklahoma State T Teven Jenkins to the Bears in the first round. Brugler previously had the team taking T Rashawn Slater in December.
• Fishbain notes that if the Bears kept LT Charles Leno Jr. and cut RT Bobby Massie, the team could slide in a veteran like OL Germain Ifedi and have a tackle to develop for the first time during GM Ryan Pace’s tenure with the team.
• Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw, Alabama’s Alex Leatherwood, and Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield are other top offensive line prospects that Chicago should keep their eyes on, according to Fishbain.
• The team last took a tackle in the first round during the 2011 draft, selecting Gabe Carimi. They also drafted G Kyle Long out of Oregon in 2013, who played tackle in college but was moved inside.
• Fishbain still can’t deny the team’s desperation for a quarterback and thinks they will have to keep tabs on players like Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Zach Wilson during the draft process.

Lions

• Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports mentions that multiple league sources expect the Lions to franchise tag WR Kenny Golladay.
• La Canfora says Golladay’s relationship with the organization “got rocky” under former HC Matt Patricia and people around the league could see the Lions trading him after using the franchise tag in order to obtain more draft picks.

• Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated believes the Lions will try to re-sign WR Kenny Golladay to an extension but doesn’t expect them to consider the franchise tag given it would cost around $16 million.
• We have Golladay included in our Top 100 – 2021 Free Agents list.

Vikings

The main impetus for the Vikings promoting QB coach Klint Kubiak to offensive coordinator was to keep as much familiarity around QB Kirk Cousins as possible, as Minnesota has hitched their wagon to Cousins and this offense for better or worse. But Kubiak said part of his job is to help Cousins be able to continue to grow and progress. 

“Certainly he’s a main leader on our offense and we want him to be comfortable. But I know Kirk and just like any other player, they don’t want to be too comfortable,” Kubiak said via Craig Peters of the team website. “You’ve got to challenge them to get the best out of them, and he’s no different. I think that’s certainly why he’s had so much success to this point of his career, is he wants a challenge. And we’re going to be familiar in our scheme, we’re going to be familiar with the faces around the building. But it’s certainly a challenge to me and our coaching staff to define new challenges for all position groups in order to have them respond and for us to all become great and to get to where we want to get to.”