NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

Lions HC Dan Campbell said that DE Romeo Okwara and CB Jeff Okudah should be able to return to the field in 2022, and possibly even make an appearance in the preseason.

“Both of those guys, we feel like right now are right where they need to be, is probably the best way to describe that,” Campbell said, via Lions Wire. “And as long as everything stays the course with their recovery then we should have them hopefully by training camp, at least on a limited basis, which would be good.”

Campbell shot down speculation that Okudah could potentially be moving from corner to safety.

“Right now, we see him as corner,” Campbell said. “But there again, a lot of this will be as we continue to discuss and depending on who we add or how we add, you never know. We’re constantly talking about our personnel and what’s best for them moving forward. What’s best for us?”

Campbell elaborated further, while speaking about the personnel in the defensive back room in general.

“Should this guy go to safety? Should this guy go to nickel? Should we bump this guy back out to corner? How are our injured guys? What do we add? So we just constantly are going to have dialogue about that, but yeah, we see Jeff out there and what we need to do is just continue to add pieces that can compete.”

Packers

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst had high praise of impending free-agent CB Rasul Douglas‘ performance last season and would like to re-sign him. 

“Rasul was another great addition to our 2021 team,” Gutekunst said, via PackersWire. “We’d love to have him back. He’s been in this league for a little while and had some success. What he did for us this year, specifically when we had some injuries to Jaire (Alexander), it just really solidified our football team, especially on defense. Obviously, he had the big splash plays, but he also did stuff on special teams and in the run game that maybe don’t make the headlines. Again, we’d love to have Rasul back.”

• Iowa C Tyler Linderbaum said he had a formal meeting with the Packers at the NFL Combine. (Thor Nystrom)

Vikings

• The Athletic’s Chad Graff says his impression from asking around at the Combine is Vikings QB Kirk Cousins is open to an extension to stay in Minnesota, but he wants a market-rate deal which could be $40 million a season at this point. That would limit the Vikings’ flexibility even though he’s set to count $45 million against their cap in 2022. 
• Graff adds Cousins holds even more of the cards, as if he’s against a trade he can threaten not to sign an extension with any team the Vikings shop him to and tank the deal. 
• Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder had a formal interview with the Vikings at the NFL Combine. (Mark Kaboly)