NFC Notes: John Morton, Aaron Rodgers, Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

The Bears re-signed CB Josh Blackwell to a two-year extension in recent weeks. He called receiving a second contract from Chicago a “dream come true.” 

“It’s 100% emotional, 100% a dream come true,” Blackwell said, via Gabby Hadjuck of the team’s site.  “Look at just three years ago where I was and then look at now. It’s a surreal moment. This is something that I’ve dreamed of my entire life — to be somewhere, signing a piece of paper with ‘extended’ behind you. You see it all the time, especially growing up in sports, you get to see all your favorite players do it. It’s like, I wanna do that one day.”

Stephens is grateful to have “stability” by continuing his career in Chicago. 

“Just like with anybody, people want to be where they are wanted,” Blackwell said. “Chicago saw the value in me before anybody else really even did. I thought I had found myself a little niche here where I could continue to play at a high level. And I think the biggest thing for guys like me is just stability. This business is really volatile, and you can be in one place today, and the next place tomorrow. So having somewhere you could be for some time is great. That was easy for me, a no brainer.”

As for contributing on special teams, Blackwell had high praise for ST coordinator Richard Hightower.

“You wanna play 10 times harder for a guy like ‘HT’ because he cares so much about you, and he puts so much into it for us,” Blackwell said. “He does a really good job of showing us that he cares and wants to see our success, so we’ll go to the ends of the earth to make things happen.”

• CJ Vogel reports that Texas WR Isaiah Bond has a top-30 visit scheduled with the Bears in April. 
• Texas G Hayden Conner met with the Bears at his pro day. 
• Texas DT Vernon Broughton, S Andrew Mukuba, and CB Jahdae Barron also met with the Bears before their pro day. (Tony Pauline) 

Lions

John Morton takes over as the Lions’ offensive coordinator following the departure of Ben Johnson. He thinks it’s important to generate “seven or eight” explosive plays per game. 

“I think you have to have explosive plays,” Morton said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s site. “You have to be able to do that. I think there’s a certain amount of explosive plays you need in a game. An explosive, I always think seven or eight plays explosively (per game) is really good.”

Morton comes to Detroit after spending last season as the Broncos’ pass game coordinator. Denver HC Sean Payton praised Morton’s diligence as a coach. 

“He’s super passionate and he works his tail off,” Payton said. “He’s great with film study and ideas. He’s one of those guys that will bring you red zone, third down, a lot of information.”

Morton also spent 2022 as the Lions’ senior offensive assistant. Dan Campbell pointed out how Morton was “pivotal” in structuring their offense around Jared Goff. 

“He was one of the pivotal pieces of helping us put this together, this offense version for (Jared) Goff with Goff,” Campbell said. “So that was big, but then also, there were so many things that during the game plan and weeks of game plan, the ideas that he had in the pass game going into weeks, getting ready for opponents was big for us. A lot of things we used, man.”

• Lions DE Al-Quadin Muhammad‘s one-year, $1,422,500 deal includes a $167,500 signing bonus, $750,000 of his $1,255,000 base salary is guaranteed, and a $750,000 roster bonus, per OverTheCap. 
• Lions CB Avonte Maddox‘s one-year, $1,422,500 deal includes a $167,500 signing bonus, and $1,030,000 of his $1,255,000 base salary is guaranteed, per OverTheCap.

Vikings

Veteran QB Aaron Rodgers remains unsigned after reports emerged of him waiting for a contract offer from the Vikings. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said he hasn’t completely closed the door on Rodgers, but they are “really happy” with their quarterbacks group. 

“For me to sit here and say that anything’s 100 percent forever, that’s just not the job,” Adofo-Mensah said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “We’re responding to scenarios and different information as it comes. So obviously things can change, but right now we’re really happy with our [quarterback] room and we’re going to look to upgrade it in different ways.”

Adofo-Mensah indicated Rodgers had several conversations with HC Kevin O’Connell, who relayed back information to start a dialogue with the front office. 

“It’s a new thing to talk about a player at that caliber,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And I’m always somebody who wants to learn and grow myself and so just being involved in those dialogue was really special.”

• Texas State G Nash Jones had a private meeting with the Vikings after his pro day. (Tony Pauline)