NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Aaron Rodgers, Vikings

Bears

Bears OC Luke Getsy said he has a lot of confidence in QB Justin Fields‘ development and praised him for being a hard worker. 

“Yeah, no, I have great confidence in Justin,” Getsy said, via NFL.com. “You saw the growth that he had from a year ago to where he’s at now. He still has a long way to go as far as where we want to be, and he knows that. But nobody works harder than Justin. The kind of guy he is, the kind of leader that he is, (I am) really excited to see what we can do this coming season, you can see the most growth for 2022.”

Getsy thinks that Fields put the team “on his back” for multiple weeks. 

“He put the team on his back for a few weeks there and showed that he’s able to do it,” Getsy said.

As for how Chicago’s offense might look next season, Getsy explained that they need to improve the positions around Fields. 

“Yeah, I think that’s the biggest question mark,” Getsy said. “It’s like, who do we have (on offense)? So it always gets kind of put on Justin, like, hey, you evolved to Justin, but we evolved to all 11 (players). We’ve got to figure out who those 11 are gonna be and then figure out how to get each guy the opportunity to be successful in what they’re doing. So once we kind of get that in place there in the next couple of months, we’ve got to take it from there and figure out exactly who we want to be.”

Packers

• Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Aaron Rodgers‘ year-to-year approach to playing could complicate trade talks for the Packers.
• This is according to several executives he’s spoken with in recent days. Fowler mentions that teams would prefer to trade for someone who would give them at least two years.
• One potential option floated by an NFC executive is a conditional trade package with a sliding scale based on how long Rodgers plays. Fowler specifically mentions a second-round pick turns into a first-rounder if Rodgers doesn’t retire after one year.
• Fowler mentions the Jets and Raiders are two teams that make sense.
• A source close to Raiders WR Davante Adams tells Fowler: “[Rodgers] was his QB for eight years, they were close when it counted, and money talks — Nevada is a tax-free state.”

Vikings

Vikings S Camryn Bynum points out that he still must earn a starting role despite being the presumptive first-team safety for 2023. 

“Really, everything in life is penciled in. Nothing is ever in cement,” Bynum said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. 

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said it’s important to make sure their system is developing and improving over the offseason. 

“Each year in this league there’s new players, new foundational pieces that emerge in their growth and development,” O’Connell said. “We talk a lot about that word — development — in this building, so with that, you feel a responsibility to make sure all of our schemes are evolving, changing and improving year in and year out, and that will be no different every year that I’m the coach here. We’re absolutely looking hard at all phases of our team right now.”