NFC Notes: Montez Sweat, Jaylon Johnson, Ryan Poles, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson gave a long response when asked about not being traded before the deadline and his contract situation

“What’s it like? How can I describe it? I mean, I feel like for me, this whole situation is an interesting situation,” Johnson told Dan Wiederer. “Because it’s easy to take everything personally. And I think for me at the end of the day, Ryan (Poles) has his family to feed. Ryan has people that he answers to. And I feel like I have to, in a sense, respect that. If it’s like, I feel like for myself I’m worth $30M, well, what I view for myself is for myself and how he views me is for him and what’s best for this organization.

“So I don’t take any of it personal at the end of the day. But also, I’m not going to go back on who I know I am and what I feel I’m worth. I’m not asking to change the market or break (contract) records. I’m not asking for that. But I’m also not going to just take anything like, ‘OK, you just deem me as this so I’m this.’ I don’t just take one man’s word and put that viewpoint on myself. So there’s a balance of being professional, being respectful to what his goals are and what he’s trying to do and also what my goals are and what I’m trying to do.”

• Johnson on if DE Montez Sweat getting an extension first would sit right with him: “No, it wouldn’t. For sure.” (Courtney Cronin)
• Johnson elaborated: “Honestly I didn’t really think too much of it. I think it’ll be a different situation in the sense that, I know he’s up for a contract as well. It’d be a different situation if it was a trade and then signed. That would be in a sense I feel like something I’d feel moreso than just an initial trade. I know the opportunity’s there. Somebody has to get paid, I know that.” (Cronin)
• Bears GM Ryan Poles on why they didn’t trade Johnson: “I don’t want to lose Jaylon Johnson. If I were to lose Johnson, I would like to have a high chance of hitting on another Jaylon Johnson, which to me, is a late-first, early second.” (Kevin Fishbain)
• Poles on what they feel they got by trading for Sweat: “Long, fast, explosive, relentless defensive end who can help us in the run and pass game. I see him as a multiplier…We felt like this was really good opportunity to get ahead of (free agency/draft) to get a really good pass rusher.” (Fishbain)
• Sweat on signing an extension with the Bears: “All that comes into play — from financial (figures) to the people around me to the players in the building. All that type of stuff. But as I said, I just got here. I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to lay my head tonight.” (Wiederer)
• Poles is “really confident we can get a deal done” with Sweat and felt it was worth giving up a pick to ensure they had negotiating rights with him: “You start to lose opportunities. It’s really hard to see…If you look at the free agent stack now it’s going to look very different by the time you get to that point of the year because there are so many different opportunities that can pop up in terms of extensions, tags, different things like that. So we decided with that type of player we wanted to capitalize on that now.” (Cronin)
• Poles explained why he’s confident in sending a second-round pick for the second year in a row at the trade deadline after it worked out so poorly before. The Bears acquired WR Chase Claypool but cut him earlier this season: “I try to take a lot of pride in it, you look at things that you do, if they fail or you make mistakes, you look back at why and address those. I think the key is that sometimes you become a little bit shy to make aggressive moves as you go forward. That’s not how we’re wired. I took a lot of those things from that situation and kind of went through that process and said, ‘OK, here’s where we may have messed up this.’ Then for this one, it’s not making the same mistake.” (Cronin)
• Bears HC Matt Eberflus says LB Tremaine Edmunds is day-to-day with a knee injury. (Kevin Fishbain)
• Eberflus doesn’t think there is a culture issue within his coaching staff: “Absolutely not…the relationship piece is there, we care about each other and we’re working diligently to get this thing turned…our culture is awesome.” (Cronin)

Packers

• Packers GM Brian Gutekunst when asked about the possibility of tanking: “I don’t think people tank. I really don’t. I think people make decisions in this league based on their situation, but I don’t think people tank.” (Ryan Wood)
• Gutekunst said he wasn’t looking to trade, but the Bills called him a couple of days ago with an offer for CB Rasul Douglas they couldn’t refuse and was asked if Douglas being outspoken was a factor for him being traded: “Not at all. Rasul has been a very good leader for us, a very positive leader for us. It really had nothing to do with that.” (Wood)
• Gutekunst when asked about staying committed to QB Jordan Love and possibly drafting a QB in the top five picks of the draft: “We have a lot of faith in Jordan. We’ve got to get the offense playing better, and when it does those things will take care of themselves.” (Wood)
• Packers HC Matt LaFleur said seventh-round CB Carrington Valentine has shown a lot in practice and they feel good about him going forward. (Tom Silverstein)
• Packers OLB Rashan Gary‘s new four-year, $96 million extension includes a $34.6 million signing bonus, $6.6 million of which was from the original fifth-year option he’s playing out in 2023. He has base salaries of $1.3 million, $6.8 million, $18 million and $21 million in the new years of the deal. (Over The Cap)
• Gary has a $6.2 million roster bonus due on the third day of the 2024 league year and an $8.7 million bonus on the third day of the 2025 league year. There is also up to $800,000 annually in per-game roster bonuses and an annual $700,000 workout bonus. 

Vikings

• Dan Graziano of ESPN considers the Vikings to be a winner at the trade deadline after acquiring QB Joshua Dobbs from the Cardinals following Kirk Cousins‘ season-ending injury.