Bears

Bears HC Ben Johnson envisions a larger role for WR Luther Burden entering his second year in the NFL.

“[Luther] is exactly what we thought we were getting out of the draft last year,” Johnson said, via Bears Wire. “He is a dynamic playmaker. He’s got some of the best run after catch in the game right now. I really believe that. We need to continue to get the ball in his hands as often as we possibly can. This guy loves football. If you took football away from him, I don’t know what he would want to do with himself.”

Packers

The Packers lost WR Romeo Doubs on the free-agent market after he signed a four-year, $68 million contract with the Patriots. During ESPN’s “Wilde & Tausch” show, co-host and former Packers OL Mark Tauscher said Doubs was expected to sign with a new team this offseason after Green Bay took WR Matthew Golden in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

“This was one of those things, you saw it coming really before last season. Once [receiver Matthew] Golden got picked in the first round, I think everyone understood Romeo was going to play, and the vibe many fans had was, ‘Go have a really good season, get paid and the Packers get a nice compensatory draft pick.’ That’s pretty much how it played out,” Tauscher said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.

Tauscher thinks Doubs’ contract was “really good” for a second receiver. 

“That’s not ‘wide receiver 1’ money. He was a really good ‘2’ here. He could be a really good secondary option, and my guess is that’s how New England views it the way the contract played out,” Tauscher said. “That doesn’t mean he’s not going to get more opportunities. There might be some things New England looks at and says, ‘There’s more potential there.'”

Doubs was notably suspended for one game by the Packers in 2024 after missing practice. Tauscher was impressed by how the receiver regained trust within the locker room. 

“It was unprecedented. I thought at that moment it was going to be really hard for Romeo to regain that trust within the organization. When stuff like that happens, it usually ends badly immediately,” Tauscher said. “You’re talking about another 15-16 months until he signed with New England. It ended up being just a blip in Romeo’s career arc.”

Packers

The Packers finished 9-7-1 last season, which included one-possession losses to the Browns, Panthers, Eagles, and Bears, a tie to the Cowboys, and a playoff loss to Chicago. Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur said they need to do a better job of capitalizing on their opportunities in 2026. 

“You’ve got to capitalize on the opportunities,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “If you look back last season, there were multiple instances where we didn’t get it done where we were in position, whether it was Cleveland, Dallas, Carolina, Philly, both Chicago games, where if a play goes different, you get a different result. But it didn’t, so you’ve got to own it and you’ve got to try to learn from it and just move forward. But I just think it’s gonna take a consistent approach. The buy-in is going to be absolutely critical.”

LaFleur admitted that several players were upset about their roles last season, and he needs to be more transparent as a coach. 

“If I’m being honest about it, I think there were some guys that were upset about roles last year, and I think that took a toll on our football team,” LaFleur said. “You need guys that bring great energy every day. I think from a coaching standpoint, role clarity is key, so we’ve got to obviously do a better job communicating with our players, ‘Hey, here’s your role and if you’re unhappy about your role, it’s on you to do something about that, to carve out a role on this football team.’ But yeah, the buy-in is absolutely critical. Getting guys in there that are juiced and ready to go to work each and every day is gonna be critical for us.”

Green Bay signed LaFleur to a multi-year extension in January. The head coach is glad to continue with the organization and thinks negotiations were “really easy.” 

“I’m ecstatic to obviously be back with the Packers,” LaFleur said. “I think this is a one-of-one organization. I love the people that we have in our building, in our organization, not only on our team but, like, within the totality of the organization. So my agents had the conversations and we were able to get a deal done … there’s always a back and forth a little bit, negotiations, but it was really easy. I’ve got a direct line of communication with Ed [Policy], so I would say it was a positive experience.”