The Green Bay Packers have completed two weeks of free agency and while only signing two players it certainly appears as if their stranglehold on the NFC North Division has only gotten stronger. The Packers signed wide receiver Randall Cobb and right tackle Bryan Bulaga but did not sign a single player from another team in what is generally regarded as a weak free agent market.
Here’s my view on the other three NFC teams.
| Detroit Lions – The Packers closest challenger took a beating in free agency, losing Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and Reggie Bush. They replaced Suh and Fairley with Haloti Ngata, the aging nose tackle that Baltimore was more than happy to trade away. The Lions also re-signed seven of their own free agents and also added defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker from New Orleans.
My take: The Lions certainly lost a lot on defense and that was what kept them in most games last year. Their offense is led by the seemingly plateaued quarterback Matthew Stafford. Even with the NFL’s best receiver the Lions’ offense never took it to the level expected of them. Stafford plays well in spurts, but the Lions are just a slightly better than average team that will probably finish around .500 next year.
| Chicago Bears – The Bears cleaned house this offseason from the front office on down but they seemed to have replaced the previous regime with exact replicas. Using the same strategy of deposed general manager Phil Emery new general manager Ryan Pace has signed an astonishing eight players from other teams. Four of those players are 30 or over and only defensive end Ray McDonald, 30, safety Antrel Rolle, 32 and wide receiver Eddie Royal, 28 have any real NFL pedigree.
My take: The Bears need help but investing in this market is not the answer. After failing to rid themselves of quarterback Jay Cutler the Bears have done little to improve themselves after a 5-11 season. The only real receiving threat, Brandon Marshall, was shipped to the Jets and replaced by a slot receiver in Royal. Pace will have to hit it big in the draft for the Bears to improve but with same ole’ Jay at QB you can expect the same ole’ results.
| Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings are an intriguing team. I think they have solid head coach in Mike Zimmer and solid young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater. If they can work things out with disgruntled running back Adrian Peterson they could end up being the Packers’ toughest competition for the North title. As usual the Vikings signed a couple of former Packers in Brad Jones and DuJuan Harris and none of their other signings were earth shakers. The Vikings look like they are adopting the Packers draft-and-develop philosophy and hit it big last year when general manager Rick Spielman traded back into the first round for Bridgewater.
My take: The Vikings scare me. After getting blown out in Lambeau in early October last year the Vikings played fairly good football the rest of the way as Bridgewater learned the ropes. While I’m not overly impressed with wide receiver Mike Wallace, who they acquired in a trade with the Dolphins, he is probably an upgrade over the slow of foot Greg Jennings. With Peterson I think this team is a playoff team, without him I could still see them winning nine or ten games next year.
Next week I’ll take a look at some of the other NFC contenders.