Ranking NFL Offseasons - NFC North Edition

[Hawkeye OG]

Offseason rankings for all 32 NFL teams: What went right and wrong, plus what's left to do

Tampa Bay is bringing back almost everyone. The reigning MVP is mad at the Green Bay front office. Here's how every team fared.

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Feel like he has the Bears a little low here with the addition of Fields. He also seem pretty low on Jenkins and the retention of Graham. Not sure what the boards's sentiment on Graham is, but he was brought here to catch TDs. Mission accomplished and he should be a good target for Fields so I don't hate it. Maybe it's because I'm a Bears fan, but I would have put them at minimum in the top 15.

Great to see GB at 31 also.

18. Chicago Bears​

What went right: While the Mitchell Trubisky era ended with an NVP nod, the Bears seemingly had no plan for the future under center when they signed Andy Dalton to a one-year, $10 million deal. Enter Justin Fields, who was acquired when the Bears moved up on draft day. It remains to be seen whether they have enough around the former Ohio State star to unlock his potential, but Bears fans have hope. Given what the offseason looked like before draft day, that qualifies as a victory.

What went wrong: The rest of the offseason wasn't inspiring. Chicago franchised Allen Robinson, and when the wide receiver market cratered, he chose to sign his tag, locking the cap-strapped Bears in for nearly $18 million on their 2022 cap. The resulting squeeze forced them to cut cornerback Kyle Fuller and might have led them to release left tackle Charles Leno. Unless second-rounder Teven Jenkins is an instant superstar on the blindside, Fields will play behind one of the worst lines in football this season.

What they could have done differently: I'm not sure I understand why Jimmy Graham is on the roster for a team with Chicago's cap issues. Cutting the veteran tight end would have freed up $7 million in cap space, money that would have been better used on Leno or Fuller.


What's left to do: Try to trade one of the veteran quarterbacks. For whatever lip service the Bears are throwing out there about sitting Fields, history tells us he'll be in the lineup sometime in September. Nick Foles would be in line for at least $9 million over the next two seasons, so he's probably untradeable without eating money, but Dalton would cost another team only $2.5 million in a deal. If a veteran quarterback gets hurt in camp and Chicago can swap Dalton for an offensive lineman, it should take that opportunity.

23. Minnesota Vikings​

What went right: For seemingly the 100th straight offseason, the Vikings added badly needed help to their offensive line. General manager Rick Spielman managed to trade down and still grab his left tackle of the future in Christian Darrisaw, who will replace Riley Reiff, who left in free agency. Minnesota also addressed a frustrating couple of years at cornerback by bringing back Mackensie Alexander, taking an interesting flier on Patrick Peterson, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal, and signing Bashaud Breeland on June 4.

What went wrong: Edge rusher is still an enormous question mark. Danielle Hunter, who missed all of 2020 with a neck injury, sat out OTAs amid reports that the veteran wants a new deal. The Vikings had Adam Thielen signed to a bargain extension and then gave the star wideout a new contract with two years to go; Hunter might have to wait until 2022 to get a much-deserved raise. The cupboard behind Hunter is about as bare as it gets.

What they could have done differently: I like the Vikings trading down and grabbing extra picks, but I would expect fans to track Darrisaw against Rashawn Slater for years to come. The Chargers grabbed Slater one pick before the Vikings, and I wonder whether Minnesota would have considered moving up to No. 10 to get ahead of the Chargers to take the Northwestern product instead.

What's left to do: Add an edge rusher. Minnesota has approximately $14 million in cap space, and it is crying out for veteran bodies on the edge, especially if Hunter can't or doesn't want to play. Even a situational piece like Trent Murphy or John Simon would sorely help this team in 2021.

25. Detroit Lions​

What went right: The Lions (mostly) committed to a new plan after the disastrous two-plus years of the Matt Patricia era and rebuilt. New general manager Brad Holmes sold high on Matthew Stafford, getting two first-round picks and Jared Goff in return from his old employers in Los Angeles. The best way to start a rebuild is to add extra first-round picks, and while we're expecting those picks to land in the 20s, Houston's trades for Deshaun Watson and Laremy Tunsil are a reminder that future first-rounders can land just about anywhere.

After making the move to deal Stafford, we got a clear idea of how Holmes and new coach Dan Campbell are planning to win football games in the future by what they did in the draft. The Lions had four picks in the first three rounds and used three of those four on linemen, including Oregon tackle Penei Sewell in the first round. They also picked up Michael Brockers in a salary dump with the Rams and re-signed Romeo Okwara. We'll see how the plan works out, but given that the last plan appeared to be simply stacking players the Patriots didn't want to keep around, trying to control the line of scrimmage is at least a theory with a better track record of success.

What went wrong: The Lions let Kenny Golladay leave, although they'll get a third-round compensatory pick in 2022. They're left with the worst group of wideouts in football as a result, with the plan to seemingly chuck it deep to Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. They also cost themselves a late-round comp pick by signing Jamaal Williams and just brought in Todd Gurley for a look; early-down back is not a position that this rebuilding team needs to make a priority.

31. Green Bay Packers​

What went right: The Packers were able to bring back their two most prominent free agents by re-signing Aaron Jones and Kevin King. General manager Brian Gutekunst was always going to struggle to bring back star center Corey Linsley, but the Packers will at least pocket a fourth-round compensatory pick for their former pivot. They were able to land a possible replacement in the draft with second-rounder Josh Myers.

What went wrong: Well, if you're a Packers fan who has been hiding under a rock for the past two months, I've got some bad news. Reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers does not seem particularly enthused by the idea of playing for the team, and while the future Hall of Famer has publicly stopped short of requesting a trade, his unhappiness does not appear to be subsiding.

Beyond Rodgers, the roster is getting thin. The offensive line is rebuilding on the fly while David Bakhtiari recovers from a torn ACL, with Elgton Jenkins taking snaps at left tackle in OTAs. The Packers added another option at corner with first-rounder Eric Stokes, but most fans I knew were hoping to see King move on for good this offseason. The Jones re-signing will see the team hand a huge raise to a player it doesn't trust to take more than two-thirds of the snaps from week-to-week, one year after it used a second-round pick on expected replacement AJ Dillon.

What they could have done differently: Letting Jones walk would have freed up more money to address the offensive line. Jones is a great running back, but if the Packers don't see him as a 50-snap-per-game guy, it's tough to justify paying the 26-year-old just under $20 million over the next two seasons. Moving on from Jones would have allowed them to either re-sign Linsley or add another lineman or two to the fold, and they could have used Dillon as the front end of a rotation with one of any number of veteran backs on the cheap.

What's left to do: Working on a Davante Adams extension. The star wideout has a $16.8 million cap hit in 2020, which is the final year of his deal. Green Bay's in rough cap shape next year, so franchising him has the possibility of putting the Packers in a messy situation. The Bears went through this spring when they franchised Allen Robinson, as when the veteran unexpectedly signed his tag, Chicago was forced to cut Kyle Fuller.

Adams should be looking for something in the ballpark of five years and $115 million. Getting that extension done now would allow the Packers to lock up their star wideout and create much-needed cap space, both in 2021 and 2022. Green Bay could create $5 million or so in room this year and use that space to add a veteran or two around cutdowns or during the season.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Jimmy Graham is a luxury, not a necessity. He should have been cut pre-Fuller.

 

[hebs]

Jimmy Graham is a luxury, not a necessity. He should have been cut pre-Fuller.

It’ll be something to watch for sure. How many TD’s Graham scores vs how many TD’s the CB’s that play in place of Fuller give up. I definitely understand the reasoning behind it though and it’s nice to see them focus on the Offense because there’s actual promise at the QB position now.

 

[D.J. Moore]

The whole notion that the oline will be worse this year is hilarious.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

The whole notion that the oline will be worse this year is hilarious.

Never say never, but I tend to agree with you. Even if Jenkins struggles, he will be better then Leno. Ifedi is average at best, but he ended up being better than Massie and the Bears have Daniels coming back.

 

[Nelly]

Never say never, but I tend to agree with you. Even if Jenkins struggles, he will be better then Leno. Ifedi is average at best, but he ended up being better than Massie and the Bears have Daniels coming back.

Whitehair and Daniels both didn't hack it at center either for years now. Mustipher seems like more of a field general there who can make thew calls and maximize the guys around him even if he himself isn't a great player. That's worth something.

 

[Black Rainbow]

Don't know who Bill Barnwell is but he thinks the Bears still have one of the worst o-lines in football.

As far as Graham, I too believe it's worth keeping him for one more year because many of our skill players cannot find the end zone.

 

[JesusHalasChrist]

Lions should be lower because of the L hat.