NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

The Bears haven’t really done much in free agency, mostly signing backups, role players and low-level starters to modest deals. New GM Ryan Poles defended that approach, however, saying the goal is for Chicago to be disciplined and give itself the flexibility to reload without making short-sighted moves. 

“When you look at free agency and some of the things that were done by different teams, you want to do some of that as well, but you know that that’s not right for the Chicago Bears right now,” Poles said via the Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain. “That’s challenging. It’s like other people get to play and you have to do it the old-school way, but I know, again, why are we doing it? Why are we being patient? Why are we looking for a very specific type of player to bring in? It’s to create an atmosphere and a culture and a roster that’s gonna be able to sustain success over a long period of time.”

Poles said the goal is to rebuild the Bears to where they are consistently in the winning column, not just a flash in a pan team. 

“I know Chicago’s been through one of those deals where it’s a real quick burst of wins and then it goes back to average or below average, and that’s not acceptable,” he said. “What’s acceptable is sustaining success over a long period of time, and this plan is going to allow us to do that.”

• Texas A&M OL Kenyon Green has a pre-draft visit scheduled with the Chicago Bears. (Ari Meirov)
• Missouri State DL Eric Johnson has a visit scheduled with the Bears. (Aaron Wilson) 

Lions

• Michigan RB Hassan Haskins has a top 30 visit scheduled with the Lions. (Aaron Wilson)
• Coastal Carolina TE Isaiah Likely had a formal Combine interview with the Lions. (Ryan Roberts)

Vikings

• New Vikings G Chris Reed‘s two-year deal includes a $500,000 signing bonus, base salaries of $1.45 million and $2.45 million, and annual $50,000 workout bonuses. (Over The Cap)
• An additional $500,000 of his base salary in 2022 is guaranteed for a total of $1 million guaranteed. The total value of the deal is two years and $4.5 million.