NFC Notes: Bears, Panthers, Vikings

Bears

The end of this week is the deadline for players to count toward the compensatory pick formula this offseason, and several teams have already made moves with that in mind. The Steelers and Eagles cut WR Donte Moncrief and S Andrew Sendejo respectively, as they counted as qualified free agents gained that offset free agents lost in the formula.

One other candidate for a similar move is Bears RB Mike Davis, who has played sparingly since the beginning of the season and is currently offsetting a potential fourth-round compensatory pick Chicago could receive for losing S Adrian Amos. While it would make a lot of sense for Davis to be cut this week, he says he’s not worrying about it until he has to. 

“Thinking of something like that is negative,” Davis said via 670 The Score. “I really don’t care about outside voices or whatever comes with it. All I can do is come up, show up every day, be a great teammate and be ready to go, no matter what happens.”

Panthers

• The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue writes that if it were solely up to Panthers GM Marty Hurney and HC Ron Rivera, she would have more confidence in Carolina signing QB Cam Newton to an extension. 
• However, the presence of new owner David Tepper, who has less personally invested in Newton and has been putting his stamp on the business side of the team first, is a wildcard for how the situation will shake out going forward. 
• Rodrigue mentions that sources said Tepper was furious about the blowout loss to San Francisco two weeks ago. She adds Hurney and Rivera are very much on the hot seat if the team implodes again this year. 
• If the team decided to move on from Newton this offseason, Rodrigue says the team would likely trade for or draft another option at quarterback in addition to Kyle Allen and third-round rookie Will Grier, both who are seen as more of backup options. 
• Rodrigue believes Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey‘s eventual extension will reset the running back market, currently paced by Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott‘s six-year, $90 million deal. 

Vikings

• According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings WR Adam Thielen‘s hamstring isn’t any worse after he re-injured it Sunday against the Chiefs, but he’s unlikely to play this week against the Cowboys as Minnesota errs on the side of caution. 
• Vikings re-signed LB Cameron Smith to their practice squad. (NFLTR)