NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain could see the Bears waiting until July to add more to their edge rushing group, which they haven’t invested in as much as some expected so far this offseason. 
• He notes the team views cornerback as a more important position to prioritize than center, which is why they made the move up for second-round CB Tyrique Stevenson and didn’t take C John Michael Schmitz, who ended up with the Giants. 
• At defensive tackle, Fishbain expects some trial and error as the team figures out where second-round DT Gervon Dexter and third-round DT Zacch Pickens fit. 

Packers

The Packers are locked and loaded with QB Jordan Love as the starter in 2023 but there’s still a vacancy at No. 2 behind him. The team somewhat surprisingly took QB Sean Clifford in the fifth round but it remains to be seen if he’ll actually be entrusted with backup duties once the season begins. Signing a veteran is on the table, though it’s slim pickings in free agency right now. 

“We’ll kind of see how that goes, but we really like what he brings to the table,” Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said via the Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “Obviously, he started a lot of games in the Big Ten, has a lot of experience, really good athlete, liked his arm talent and we brought him in for a pre-draft visit and just really liked the makeup of the person. I think we’ll probably see how these guys do before we think about bringing in a veteran right away.”

Vikings

The Vikings came away with a receiver they believe can be a Day 1 starter for them in Jordan Addison. 

While the Vikings were very high on Addison and his potential, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah waited to see if any trade offers blew them away for the pick they used on Addison. 

“It’s a deadline league, man,” Adofo-Mensah said, via ESPN.com. “… In the moment, it wasn’t a panic. We knew exactly what we’d be willing to do to do different things, and we were very confident with the player we got. We were just waiting to see if anything came up to entice us, and it didn’t, and we ended up with an impactful player [at a] premium position.”

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell explained that Addison was not only the best player available for them, but also fit an obvious need at receiver. 

“A lot of people always talk about the best-player-available thing [versus need],” O’Connell said. “It was one of those scenarios where the way the board kind of fell for us, it allowed it to kind of check both boxes. It was a need for us, obviously, after the departure of a great player like Adam Thielen, so we wanted to make sure that if a true impact player at that position was available at our pick, that we were prepared for it.”

• Vikings QB Kirk Cousins on finishing his career with the team: “That’s kind of a no-brainer. I’ve always said that, when I say I would like to be in Minnesota — there’s a lot of things I would like to have [in life]. You have to earn it.” (Ben Goessling)