NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

Lions’ QB Jared Goff spoke to the media about what type of scheme the offense would be running under new OC Anthony Lynn.

“I think the way he described (the scheme) to us is multiple with spread principles,” Goff said, via Chris Burke of The Athletic. “I think it’s going to have a little bit of what they did with (Justin) Herbert and the Chargers and a little bit of what (Lynn) did in Buffalo. It’s a nice little mixture of it so far and it’s been good.”

Packers

One anonymous high-ranking NFL executive spoke with Bill Huber of SI.com about the situation that the Packers find themselves in with disgruntled QB Aaron Rodgers.

“They kind of screwed themselves,” the executive explained. “You play with fire, you get burned. He’s smart enough to know they did kind of hedge and basically say, ‘If he’s not playing well this season, we’re going to move on.’ He’s really trying to call their bluff. To them, why should we guarantee beyond 2021? But look at the situation. Because they didn’t do that, understanding who they’re dealing with, now they’re in a situation where the dude might not show up.”

The executive says that with the Broncos in dire need of a quarterback, money is likely not going to be an issue for them in any potential trade, especially with an MVP-caliber player like Rodgers.

“Denver’s so desperate for a quarterback, they don’t care about paying him $30 million guaranteed a year because they need a quarterback,” the executive said. “A quarterback’s contract is never not tradable unless they’re awful, especially a guy like Aaron. If you get to the point where he’s like, ‘Listen, I’m not coming in regardless. I don’t care what you do. You guys can fire everyone. I just don’t want to be there. I’m not showing up.’ If it gets to that point that the guy doesn’t want to be there, I’m of the mindset that if you don’t want to be there, OK, we’ll move on.”

Regardless of what happens with the situation, the anonymous executive believes that Green Bay should call Rodgers’ bluff and see if he shows up when the time comes. 

“It’s extremely different when you’re talking about your franchise quarterback. That’s what makes this unique. In any other case, if he really pushes, there’s a breaking point where, ‘If you don’t want to be a part of what we’re doing, maybe it just isn’t a good fit.’ The tough part for Gutey is, regardless of what Mark Murphy or any of the people he reports to says, I don’t know if he’ll ever truly have a commitment from the entire group. You need a fully committed organization to say, ‘We’re moving on from Aaron. These are the ramifications, short term, and long term, and we’re willing to do this for the health of the organization.’ If he moves on, they’re going to suck – or definitely not be as good unless he quickly pivots and brings in a competent vet from somewhere else. If that’s the case, they’re not going to be good and he’s probably going to get fired. So, that’s what makes this a little tough to move on, which probably forces him to dig his heels in and make Aaron show up. This is like the most realistic game of poker. He’s all in and he’s trying to make you go all in. You’re either going to push all your chips in and say, ‘I’m all in’ and see if you call his bluff. Based on what I know, I would dig in and make him show up,” the executive said.

Vikings

• Vikings undrafted free agent RB A.J. Rose received a $15,000 signing bonus and $20,000 of his salary guaranteed. (Chris Tomasson)