Why The Green Bay Packers Are Still The Class Of The NFC North

The Green Bay Packers have had an underwhelming start to free agency, something we explored earlier this week.

The Packers watched as elite right tackle Bryan Bulaga left for San Diego and inside linebacker Blake Martinez — a tackling machine — signed with the New York Giants.

To compensate, the Packers signed two players that were released by their previous teams: linebacker Christian Kirksey and right tackle Ricky Wagner. Kirksey has been injury prone and played in just nine games the past two years for Cleveland, while Wagner is a declining player who never lived up to his hefty contract in Detroit.

Here’s the good news for Packer Nation, though: nobody in the NFC North has done enough to catch Green Bay.

The Packers went 13-3 overall last season and won the division by three games over Minnesota (10-6). Chicago finished in third place at 8-8, while Detroit (3-12-1) finished dead last for the ninth time since 2001.

Early returns suggest Chicago made minor gains, Detroit remained the same and Minnesota went backwards. According to the website Betonline.ag, Green Bay is still the favorite to win the NFC North at +125, followed by Minnesota (+200), Chicago (+300) and Detroit (+1000).

Here’s a look around the NFC North, and why the Packers’ foes are still looking up at Green Bay.

MINNESOTA (10-6 in 2019)

It was a brutal week for the Vikings.

Minnesota traded Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round pick to Buffalo for a first-round pick, a fifth-rounder and a sixth-rounder in this year’s draft, as well as a 2021 fourth-round selection.

Diggs is a legitimate No. 1 receiver who has 313 receptions, 26 touchdowns and nearly 4,000 receiving yards over the last four seasons. Yes, the Vikings loaded up on draft capital. But it typically takes draft picks a year or two to develop, and even then, there’s no guarantee Minnesota will find a player equivalent to Diggs.

Defensive end Everson Griffen, who has 57 sacks since 2014 and has played in four Pro Bowls, broke off contract talks with the Vikings on Friday.

In addition, cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander both signed with Cincinnati, while safeties Andrew Sendejo (Cleveland) and Jayron Kearse (Detroit) also left in free agency.

Minnesota and quarterback Kirk Cousins did agree on a two-year, $66 million extension. But considering the 31-year-old Cousins has just one career playoff win, not all of Viking Nation will be thrilled with that signing.

CHICAGO (8-8)

The Bears could be poised to move up after trading a fourth-round draft pick to Jacksonville for veteran quarterback Nick Foles.

Chicago, which won the division in 2018, has a championship-level defense. But the Bears ranked just 29th in both total offense and scoring offense with Mitchell Trubisky under center in 2019.

Foles, who is now playing for his fifth organization, has a mediocre career passer rating of 88.2. But Foles got red hot in 2017 when he replaced an injured Carson Wentz in Philadelphia and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship.

If Foles approaches that level of play again, the Bears could compete for the divisional crown in 2020.

Chicago also added outside linebacker Robert Quinn (five years, $70 million), but made the highly questionable decision to sign over-the-hill tight end Jimmy Graham (two years, $16 million).

The Bears did lose linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, safety Ha Ha Clinton Dix and defensive tackle Nick Williams. Chicago also released outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, a former first round draft pick.

DETROIT (3-12-1)

The Lions have been extremely active and gotten mixed reviews.

Detroit added linebacker Jamie Collins (three years, $30 million) and defensive tackle Danny Shelton (two years, $8 million) — a pair of ex-Patriots. Collins worked with Lions head coach Matt Patricia when he was the defensive coordinator in New England, while the 26-year-old Shelton is coming off his best season.

Patricia continued his pursuit of former Patriots when Detroit traded for ex-New England safety Duron Harmon.

Cornerback Desmond Trufant signed a two-year, $21 million deal after he was released in Atlanta. The Lions stayed inside the division and plucked safety Jayron Kearse from Minnesota and defensive tackle Nick Williams from Chicago.

Detroit also gave offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai $45 million over five years to leave Philadelphia.

Detroit’s biggest loss was cornerback Darius Slay, a three-time Pro Bowler who was traded to Philadelphia for third- and fifth-round draft picks. The Lions ranked 32nd in passing defense in 2019, and losing their No. 1 cornerback won’t make it easy to improve the back end of the defense.

The Lions also lost standout guard Graham Glasgow to Denver (four years, $44 million) and right tackle Rick Wagner to Green Bay (two years, $11 million). Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson signed with the Los Angeles Rams (two years, $17 million) and tight end Logan Thomas went to Washington.



Source

Speak Your Mind

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get in Touch

350FansLike
100FollowersFollow
281FollowersFollow
150FollowersFollow

Recommend for You

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Subscribe and receive our weekly newsletter packed with awesome articles that really matters to you!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You might also like

Barclays adds itemised digital receipts to its banking app...

Flux, the London fintech that has built a technology platform for banks and merchants...

Sebi eases compliance requirement for rights issues

New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday gave certain relaxations to companies from compliance...

Luis Suarez Confirms Early Return Will Coincide With FC...

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 09: Luis Suarez of...

At least 600 Amazon employees hit by coronavirus: Report

San Francisco: Nearly 600 Amazon employees have been tested coronavirus positive, a company employee...