NFC Notes: Sam Darnold, Josh Jacobs, Lions Combine Meetings, Packers, Vikings

Lions

• Justin Melo reports the Lions held a formal meeting with Oklahoma State ED/LB Collin Oliver at the Combine.
• Per Mike Payton, Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter says he’s had meetings with the Bengals, Colts, Cowboys, Lions, and Ravens. 
• The Lions have also met with Marshall EDGE Mike Green, according to Jeremy Reisman.
• LSU EDGE Sai’Vion Jones spoke about his meeting with the Lions at the combine, per Mike Payton.
• Ohio State DE Jack Sawyer has also spoken with the Lions during his time in Indianapolis, per Kory Woods.
• Texas A&M DE Nic Scourton has met with the Lions at the combine, per Mike Payton. 
• Ole Miss OLB Pooh Paul had a formal meeting with the Lions, per Mike Payton.
• Auburn EDGE Jalen McLeod has formally met with the Lions at the Combine. (Mike Payton)
• Minnesota’s Cody Lindenberg met with the Lions at the combine. (Kory Woods)
• Mike Payton mentioned that Penn State LB Kobe King has met with the Lions as well.
• Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell had a formal meeting with the Lions during the combine. (Mike Payton)
• Notre Dame EDGE Howard Cross had a formal with the Lions at the combine. (Mike Payton)

Packers

Packers RB Josh Jacobs ruffled some feathers when saying he thinks the team needs to sign a proven No. 1 receiver. GM Brian Gutekunst said he isn’t holding anything against Jacobs and thinks his heart is in the right place. 

“His desire to win and win a championship is very strong,” Gutekunst said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “From the time we got him, he’s been that way, so his heart’s absolutely in the right place.”

Gutekunst reiterated he’s didn’t pay much attention to Jacobs’ comments and doesn’t feel his actions were detrimental to the team. 

“We obviously have these conversations,” Gutekunst said. “I talked to a lot of the players before they leave. I talked to Josh before and after that about our football team. So yeah, things in the media I don’t pay too much attention to, unless it’s something that’s detrimental to our football team, which that wasn’t. But no, those are private conversations. I go off those more than anything else.”

Although Gutekunst would like someone to take over the No. 1 receiver role, he would still like “multiple guys” to vie for the spot. 

“You’d like to have somebody move into that space, maybe, but at the same time, I’d like multiple guys to be able to move into that space,” Gutekunst said. “What I’m looking for is guys that when they’re called upon can perform at a high level. I think we have a lot of guys that have done that and are moving into that space, but whether that means acquiring one or one of those guys we have now moves into that space, [we’ll see].”

Vikings

Sam Darnold is an impending free agent but it’s still possible for him to return to the Vikings under the franchise tag. When talking to reports at the NFL Combine, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said they are in a position to have “options” and are working out the best way to proceed. 

“Every option is afforded to us,” Adofo-Mensah said, via PFT. “When we did the move originally, we wanted to create optionality. And part of the optionality was believing and betting on a guy who was young, talented — believing in our infrastructure to be able to do the things we can do with the quarterbacks. So, we’re now in a position where we have options. And we’ll continue to work those options, figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”

Darnold struggled over his last two appearances, which culminated in their 27-9 loss to the Rams in the NFC Wild Card round. Adofo-Mensah isn’t holding anything against Darnold and is still excited about the quarterback’s potential in their system. 

“I was telling my staff, if I could’ve bought of a brain teaser of an experiment to think through, that would’ve been a pretty tough one — where [you have] a Pro Bowl quarterback, win all those games, and then you lose to two teams twice,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And so that was really kind of the ore of our offseason, really thinking through that holistically. Not trying to be overweighted by those eight quarters but not underweighting those last two games. Really, he played a lot of good football for us. Year 1 in the system, so you can expect more later. And so, we’re excited [about] the potential for Sam — whatever that ends up being. But it’s a tough exercise. I want to make sure that we’re continually saying we’re so proud of what he did for us. We’re so proud of this team. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but a lot of good things happened. We continue to lay the foundation for the team we want to be and we’ll continue to go forward.”

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said he’s had recent conversations with Darnold.

“I’ve had great dialogue with Sam from the time the season ended up until very, very recently,” O’Connell said. “I think my relationship with Sam has grown to a point where the respect level is sky high. This process is going to play out both short-term and long-term for the Minnesota Vikings. And Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level. So, that’s a really good thing and I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point. We’ll see where it goes from here.”