NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune says that unless Bears’ GM Ryan Pace is willing to bundle multiple picks and players, the team has no shot of acquiring Texans’ QB Deshaun Watson.
• Biggs believes Jets’ QB Sam Darnold could be on the Bears’ radar, as Pace has a good relationship with New York GM Joe Douglas.
• While Raiders’ QB Marcus Mariota will likely be on the move this offseason, Biggs says that QB Derek Carr is also under consideration to be traded for the right price. Either of these quarterbacks would be an upgrade from the current situation in Chicago, according to Biggs.
• Another possible option for the Bears is 49ers’ QB Jimmy Garoppolo, yet Biggs points out this would only happen if San Francisco were to find an upgrade for him.
• Without trading for a new quarterback, Biggs says that the Bears are looking at a free agent group with veteran options such as Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
• This means that Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz is likely high on the team’s priority list. According to Biggs, the Bears are probably unwilling to give up the No. 20 draft pick for him, and putting together a trade package involving some second and third-round choices could be their best offer.
• Biggs would be surprised to see the team move on from LT Charles Leno Jr., and also believes they place the franchise tag on impending free-agent WR Allen Robinson.

Packers

Despite the fact that he turns 37 in May, Packers’ TE Marcedes Lewis has no plans to retire and said he hopes to remain in Green Bay in 2021.

“I’m definitely going to keep playing,” Lewis said, via TMZ Sports. “It’d be good if it was in Green Bay, we’ll see. I feel really good, and most importantly, my mind feels really good.”

• Mike Sando of The Athletic points out that aside from joining his brother LB T.J. Watt with the Steelers, the Packers would make sense for Watt as he is from Pewaukee, Wisconsin. 

Vikings

Chad Graff of The Athletic reports that the Vikings have not made a single call pertaining to the possibility of moving on from veteran QB Kirk Cousins this offseason.

“The team hasn’t made a single call to another team looking to trade Cousins, according to a source,” Graff wrote. “They want to be in contention for a playoff run and believe they have a team that can do that with Cousins at the helm. They don’t want to get worse at quarterback.”