NFC Notes: Brian Gutekunst, Ben Johnson, John Morton, Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

• When speaking to people around the Bears, Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda reports that new HC Ben Johnson has laid out a specific plan for the organization. 
• According to Pauline, Johnson plans to “start from scratch” with QB Caleb Williams to help develop him. 
• Pauline writes Johnson’s system will not mirror what he ran with the Lions, and he’ll focus on building a scheme around Williams. 
• Although many expect Chicago to draft an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Pauline is told they will select the best player who fits Johnson’s system. 
• Jonathan Jones mentions Johnson has been labeled as a “mad scientist” for his offense around the league. When speaking to Johnson, the coach said he wants to “flip” the narrative that he’s only focused on offense: “We’re going to flip that narrative because I don’t necessarily love it. My job over the last few years was to be the best offensive coordinator that I could be. That changes now that I’m the head coach, and that’s going to be the vision for the entire team. I like to think of myself as a darn good football coach, so that’s what I’m going to be. I look forward to the challenge of defense, special teams, and offense all coming together and playing complimentary football.” 
• When asked if he’s a coach who is big on bringing energy, Johnson responded: “Yeah, I bring it out occasionally. Within the building with the people that know me, absolutely. Probably what you’ve seen in media sessions or on the field the last few years is that I’ve been a little bit more reserved and stoic; that’s by design. Within the building, there’s a little bit more personality that might come out.”  (Jones)

Lions

Lions OC John Morton believes his ability to put players in a position to succeed and his outside-the-box thinking will help him to succeed.

“People that hire me is because I do research,” Morton said, via the team’s website. “What is going to work for this player? It’s a lot of ideas. I just throw everything at them. That’s the way it was at the beginning of my coaching career. When I first started with Gruden. It’s like, ‘Give me ideas.’ Whether he puts it in or not I just keep bringing them.”

Morton added that he’s excited to work with the offensive weapons that Detroit has behind a great offensive line.

• The Lions have several contracts to address in the near future. GM Brad Holmes said they’ve already started making adjustments to make sure they can keep their best players around: “It’s good problems to have but you look back and it’s like, ‘Man, there’s a bill to pay.’ It starts to add up. So, it changes some of the decisions that you would like to do in free agency. We’ve already started that work to make those necessary adjustments.” (Mike Garafolo)

Packers

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst was non-committal about CB Jaire Alexander returning to the team next season.

“We’ll see,” Gutekunst said, via NY Times. “We’re working through that. He certainly could be, but I think we’ll work through that as we go. We’ve got to get him out there now. I think obviously, we’ve talked about (how) there’s been a lot of frustration on his part. He wants to be out there badly and not being able to be out there at his best has frustrated him and that has frustrated our football team, too, because we’re better with him. But we’ll see.”

Gutekunst alluded to the team shying away from picking up LB Quay Walker‘s fifth-year option due to the fact that he’s an off-ball linebacker and sometimes the option gets lumped into linebackers who are primarily edge rushers, but the team hopes to bring him back for the long term.

“The linebacker for the fifth-year option is a little wonky because there’s so many edge guys that are part of that, which drives up that number, which probably isn’t great,” Gutekunst said. “But yeah, we’d like to find a way to keep Quay around here long-term, whether that be an extension or something.”

Gutekunst added that the team won’t shy away from drafting a wide receiver in the first round, if the talent matches the value at the spot that they’re picking.

“I will say this: in no time in my 20-some years within this organization, whether it was Ron (Wolf) or Ted (Thompson), did I hear them talk about that as a philosophy,” Gutekunst said of avoiding first-round receivers. “I know Ron talked a lot about being mad he didn’t take Randy Moss, you know what I mean? … I never really looked at it that way. I don’t think we’d ever hesitate to take a receiver in the first round if the right one was there. We certainly talked about it at different times in the last seven years since I’ve been in this spot, trying to make that happen (the Packers wanted Brandon Aiyuk in the 2020 first round before drafting Jordan Love), so I don’t really look at it as a philosophical thing. I will say we’ve hit on a lot of second-round receivers. There’s been a lot of guys that we’ve taken in that group that have become really, really good players for us. Not only us, but throughout the league.”

Gutekunst didn’t want to place a label of “CB1” on Keisean Nixon but added that his talent is undeniable and he will be a part of the team moving forward.

“I think he played really, really well,” Gutekunst said. “I think he really fit what Jeff (Hafley) was trying to do. First of all, he’s an outstanding competitor. I didn’t blink when we asked him to do that, but I just think his athleticism and his ability … with his eyes and his ability to tackle served us well out there. For me, he may not have the length that some of those guys on the outside have, but his awareness and ball skills make up for that.”

• Per Matt Schneidman, there has not been contact between the Seahawks and Packers regarding a trade for WR D.K. Metcalf.