NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

Bears WR Allen Robinson is a player that many in the league feel should receive a contract extension from the Bears, although he remains humble about it in the public eye.

“For me, like I said before, it’s different things that go into it between the team and my agent and stuff like that,” Robinson said, via Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic. “But again for me, I’m not really too focused on that right now. My main focus is on camp. We have a game in about a month. So not having OTAs, starting a little bit slower with training camp and stuff like that, my main focus is being ready for Week 1 and whatever happens with that happens.”

Bears GM Ryan Pace also spoke about the situation and said he recognizes what Robinson brings to the team.

“You guys know how we are when we get talking about contracts and extensions,” Pace said. “We’re usually pretty quiet on that front. It will be no different with this. But, look, we know how good of a player Allen Robinson is and we know how important he is to our team, not just a great player but a great teammate, a huge part of our culture. So we recognize that. Sometimes there’s a lot of factors that go into play as we work through these things. We just keep those things behind the scenes and I think it’s just better for the process. But we appreciate A-Rob; we recognize the talent that he is and the person that he is.”

• Fishbain notes several reasons that the Bears should re-sign Robinson, including that he is likely underrated as the team’s best offensive weapon and continue to get better.
• While an extension could help the Bears’ cap space in 2021, Fishbain says that Robinson should also be rewarded for being a model teammate inside and outside of the locker room.

Lions

• Per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, ESPN analyst and former Lions QB Dan Orlovsky believes his former teammate, QB Matthew Stafford, will either lead the Lions to a deep playoff run in 2020 or end up on a different team: “I’ll keep it 100 with you, like, listen, he’s either going to win there this year or a winner’s going to come get him.”
• Stafford was playing at an MVP level in 2019 before a back injury cost him the second half of the season. Birkett notes Stafford’s contract expires after 2022, so another good year coupled with Detroit being successful would put him in line for an extension. 
• However, if the Lions miss the playoffs and a new coach and general manager are brought on board, there’s a solid chance the new regime could move on from Stafford or a contending team could try to trade for him while the Lions rebuild:
• Orlovsky thinks even if Stafford is playing well but the Lions still aren’t successful, it probably makes it likelier he ends up elsewhere: “I think in both cases you could justify it. I’ve said this publicly and I’ve said it to Matthew, listen, if they don’t win, it’s probably the right decision. And they didn’t not win because of him, but you can totally sit there and go, ‘All right, we tried, it didn’t happen, let’s totally reboot.'”

• Orlovsky said Stafford is aware of the business realities but is just focused on this season: “He’s just focused on like, ‘Listen, I think we got a good team. I was playing really, really good last year. I feel good, healthy. Like, I think I’ve got plenty of years of really good football left in me.’ Listen, everyone knows he’s smart, so he’s aware. He knows what the reality of the NFL is.”

Vikings

• Vikings DT Armon Watts said his time on the reserve list at the beginning of the training camp was due to a false positive test for COVID-19. (Ben Goessling)
• Chad Graff and Arif Hassan of The Athletic are watching the starting cornerback competition for the Vikings and aside from Mike Hughes are unsure who will start.
• They believe it is safe to assume that first-round CB Jeff Gladney will play a big role early on, but they note that HC Mike Zimmer, let cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander learn on the bench before giving them snaps and CB Dre Kirkpatrick didn’t play often as a rookie in Cincinnati. 
• As for the third cornerback spot, rookie CB Cameron Dantzler might have a shot, but veterans Holton Hill and Kris Boyd will also be in the competition.
• Now that DT Michael Pierce has opted out, DT Shamar Stephen will likely be his replacement despite the fact that metrics point to him being a below-average player at his position.
• The other defensive tackle spot could belong to DT Armon Watts, but DT Jaleel Johnson and rookie DT James Lynch will have a chance to challenge him.
• The kick returner competition features Hughes, WR Chad Beebe, RB Ameer Abdullah, WR Justin Jefferson, and WR K.J. Osborn. Hughes and Abdullah have ball-security concerns and Beebe’s history of drops also worries the duo.
• So far, the Vikings have said that they’ll be keeping Riley Reiff at tackle while Ezra Cleveland learns at left guard. It is also unknown if Pat Elflein will start or if guards Aviante Collins, Dakota Dozier, or Dru Samia could take one or both spots.