NFC Notes: J.J. McCarthy, Kirk Cousins, Caleb Williams, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Despite a delay, the Bears have finally come to terms on a deal with first-round QB Caleb Williams. Chicago GM Ryan Poles wasn’t surprised by anything about how the negotiations turned out. 

“I’m not going to get into the negotiation and what’s asked/what’s not asked. Just for general knowledge, it’s very common for different things to be asked for in the very beginnings of negotiations,” Poles said, via Josh Schrock of NBCSports Chicago. “So it wasn’t anything shocking in terms of what was being asked for or anything like that. But at the end of the day I’m glad it worked out and pretty kind of standard.”

Packers

Packers QB Jordan Love said he doesn’t intend to let RB Josh Jacobs set the league record for most receptions without a touchdown.

“No, that’s not going to happen,” Love said, via Around The NFL. “I saw that the other day. I’m surprised he doesn’t have any touchdowns yet. Let’s see, 197 career receptions, zero receiving touchdowns. I sent that to him, I said, ‘Bro, we’re going to get you a touchdown, for sure.’ First pass to him might be a touchdown, who knows. Five receptions away from it? We’ll make sure he gets a touchdown in there.”

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell went in-depth about the team’s decision to select Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy in the 2024 draft and the events that led up to the choice.

“I believe in J.J. McCarthy,” O’Connell told Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “But to get him in the building the right way under the right circumstances, and having another first-round pick like Dallas Turner helps that…”

“What people don’t understand about the quarterback selection process is that it’s not just the quarterback themselves. It’s: ‘What does the rest of the picture look like with that quarterback?'”

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows that O’Connell is motivated by a past failure in Washington with QB Dwayne Haskins during his time there as a QB coach and offensive coordinator. 

“Those things [O’Connell] talked about are the reason why I have so much faith in him,” Adofo-Mensah said. “To take a mold-and-play like [McCarthy] with talent and traits that are as high-end as anybody, and mold him into that player we want him to be. A lot of times when we go back over history and we say, ‘These quarterbacks have missed.’ There’s a lot of hands that are dirty in that regard, and we’re going to make sure that our hands are clean and give him the best opportunity he can to be the best player he can be in this offense.”

The Vikings later met with McCarthy, who had a good experience with the team and was viewed as having room for growth. They also watched him during his private workout and were impressed with his decision-making, arm strength, and big personality. McCarthy himself came away from the meeting believing that Minnesota was a likely destination for him.

“It was the way [O’Connell] presents the install,” McCarthy said. “The way he compartmentalizes everything about how to look at this play individually and how to make it more relatable to what your knowledge is and how you can smoothly and efficiently step into this playbook. That was something that was truly unique because you go around to so many defensive coaches like [Washington’s] Dan Quinn and [New England’s] Jerod Mayo, and being able to have that relationship as former QB and current QB, it’s truly special and it means a lot.”

“I left there very, very confident in my evaluation of J.J,” O’Connell said of the meeting. “And if anything, felt even stronger about it. You definitely have to be careful about putting too much emphasis on that kind of stuff. You can’t say, ‘Hey, he was awkward at dinner, so we can’t draft him.’ You use it as a sliver of the total evaluation.”

O’Connell reiterated that the plan is for McCarthy to sit until he’s ready to play, and his experience in Washington with Haskins has only crystallized his conviction to do what’s best for McCarthy and the team. 

“When we selected [Haskins], we had a lot of confidence in what he could become under the right circumstances and development and timetable,” O’Connell said. “And that didn’t exactly end up being the mindset just a few short months later. But I want to be very clear that the expectation is for [McCarthy] to not be perfect. He’s going to have growing pains, he’s going to learn on the fly. I’m not trying to remove that aspect of it, either, but [deciding when he will play] is not something you can write up on a board. It’s a feeling.”

“It’s just more about what is in the best interest of the organization,” O’Connell concluded. “Those circumstances cannot affect what J.J.’s development plan is or any other player on the team for that matter. It just can’t be something that selfishly ever impacts that decision. That really won’t change because, and I don’t know if it’s the former quarterback in me or not, but I do feel an obligation to have the best interests of not only J.J. but our entire team, at heart, when we make that decision.”

• During the combine, the Vikings inquired about Chargers QB Justin Herbert‘s availability while doing their due diligence on replacements for former QB Kirk Cousins. Adofo-Mensah worked with new Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco. 
• Seifert says the Vikings were wary about matching the Falcons’ offer to Cousins, as Adofo-Mensah didn’t want to lose the potential flexibility of having a quality starting quarterback on a rookie contract.
• Eventually, Minnesota opted to sign QB Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal and O’Connell laid out their plan for him as the bridge quarterback ahead of the draft: “I just felt it was very important for me to look him in the eye and say exactly the reality of this.” 
• Seifert and ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported the Vikings’ final offer to the Patriots for the No. 3 pick including their two first-round picks in 2024 and their first-round pick in 2025 but had New England sending back two mid-round picks. 
• After the draft, Adofo-Mensah explained why he was comfortable with a smaller move up for McCarthy instead of a big move up for Patriots first-round QB Drake Maye: “It’s always about walkaway prices. Your only leverage in the negotiation is your willingness to do something else. So I’ve got to say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It’s got to mean something. You’re always sweating a little bit with that one pick in between but this business is about taking a little risk and trying to get a reward, and I think we got that in the end.”