NFC Notes: Olamide Zaccheaus, Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Kelly, Bears, Vikings

Bears

New Bears WR Olamide Zaccheaus signed on with the team after spending the last few years with the Falcons, Eagles, and Commanders. He thinks coming to Chicago alongside a DT Grady Jackson, who he was teammates with in Atlanta, has been beneficial. 

“It’s going to help a lot,” Zaccheaus said, via Adam Jahns of The Athletic. “Having people that you’re familiar with in a new environment and kind of going through the same situation that you’re going through always helps.”

As for playing in HC Ben Johnson‘s offense, Zaccheaus is excited about his new coach’s creativity. 

“Just the creativity in the play calls and just how great the offenses have been and how productive they’ve been, that really excites me,” Zaccheaus said. “And you also just watch film and tape of how hard they play for each other. That’s something that’s right up my alley. I’m just excited to get to work and build on that.”

Vikings

Alec Lewis of The Athletic dives into why the Vikings have been tied to QB Aaron Rodgers and where their quarterback situation stands.

• Lewis says Minnesota wanted to re-sign QB Daniel Jones with the ability to compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job but Jones preferred to compete in Indianapolis instead.
• Due to McCarthy’s lack of experience and knee injury, Lewis believes some in the Vikings’ organization viewed Rodgers as a better option for a roster built to win now.
• While HC Kevin O’Connell wouldn’t name McCarthy the starter, Lewis thinks everything the team has done this offseason has been done because of their faith in the 2024 first-round pick.
• Lewis named veterans like Joe Flacco or Ryan Tannehill as free-agent options. He also mentioned Seahawks QB Sam Howell and Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell as trade targets if they want to go younger.

Vikings

Minnesota signed former Colts C Ryan Kelly this offseason after nine years in Indianapolis including one All-Pro second-team selection. Kelly talked about his first interactions with QB J.J. McCarthy and praised the young signal caller’s determination to win.

“Just having some brief conversations with J.J. so far, and just getting a feel from people in the facility on how they view him, he’s fiery, man,” Kelly said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “He’s got some stuff to him, now. He’s got that energy that you want as a quarterback and as a young guy who missed his entire rookie season. I think you need that edge where this guy is like, he wants to prove who he can be in this league. He wants to lead this team to an NFC North title. He wants to go to the NFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl.”

“And I think he also understands that there is a lot he hasn’t seen and doesn’t know. So for the last nine years, for the most part, I’ve been in charge of the run game, the pass game, and all the blitz lookups and all those. So I think that’s what I bring to this table. Hey, there is a young guy who we really believe in who we know has the fire and the passion to be great, he just might not be able to see everything right away.”