NFC Notes: Matt Eberflus, Sam Darnold, Cowboys, Lions, Vikings

Cowboys

Cowboys’ new DC Matt Eberflus was fired as the Bears’ head coach after three years following their 23-20 loss to the Lions, where the game was marred by poor clock management in the final seconds. Eberflus reflected on his exit from Chicago, saying he quickly became excited for his next opportunity. 

“I was excited after a couple of days, a couple of weeks, taking that break,” Eberflus said, via Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press. “I was excited about looking at different opportunities, and this was the best opportunity, that I felt was really cool for me to come back to Dallas. I have a lot of familiar faces here, starting from the top all the way to everybody in the building.”

Eberflus is focused on collaborating with HC Brian Schottenheimer and lending him advice as a former head coach. 

“The first couple meetings I had with him, I said, ‘I’m here for you,’” Eberflus said. “I want to really just do a good job of bouncing ideas off of (him), experiences that I had and just working together to be able to utilize me. Because I do have the experience of being a head coach for him and to make his job easier.”

New OC Klayton Adams comes to Dallas after spending the last two seasons as the Cardinals’ offensive line coach. His approach is to be “problem-solvers” when putting together their call sheet. 

“At the end of the day, our job when we’re putting things on the call sheet is to be problem-solvers,” Adams said. “That’s the part that I’m really looking forward to focusing on. It’s also a leadership position within a great organization.”

Lions

Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson said he spoke to Browns DE Myles Garrett about the possibility of teaming up with the Lions. He thinks their defensive line would be “totally elevated” with Garrett in the fold. 

“If me and Myles were to pair up, that would be deadly, you know?” Hutchinson said, via NFL.com. “I was talking to him, we were at the Honors, and we were just talking about what could be. And although it’s probably unlikely, I think I would be thrilled to play next to him if it were to happen. But, yeah, our whole D-line would be totally elevated, and we would, whew, that’d be a scary defensive line. We get along, too. I’ve seen him these last few years at different things. He texted me after I got hurt — it was just a cool thing. Guys outside of your own team who reach out to you, so I think he’s a good dude. If he does, great, but I don’t know. We’ll see. But that would be awesome.”

Vikings

• If the Vikings choose to bring back QB Sam Darnold, they will have to make significant changes to their roster to fit in his cap figure, ESPN’s Dan Graziano writes.
• The team could opt to franchise Darnold, which would carry a $40 million cap hit. Alternatively, they could hand the reigns to QB J.J. McCarthy, who they drafted 10th overall last season. With McCarthy’s low cap hit, the team can continue to aggressively build the roster around the quarterback position.