Green Bay Packers: NFC North Free Agency Tracker

Let’s take a look around the NFC North and see how the Green Bay Packers’ division rivals are faring in free agency.

Over the last two days during the NFL’s legal tampering period, there has been a flurry of reported moves with big trades being made, players changing teams, and teams re-signing their own free agents.

Of course, when it comes to the Green Bay Packers, we saw them sign linebacker Christian Kirksey and tackle Ricky Wagner to two-year deals. On top of that, now former Packers, Kyler Fackrell and Blake Martinez signed with the New York Giants. Bryan Bulaga is now an L.A. Charger and Jimmy Graham struck a deal with Chicago.

But what is happening around the rest of the NFC North?

Once again this division in 2020 is going to be a highly contested one and it’s always important to keep close tabs on your division rivals. Like the Packers, the Bears, Vikings, and Lions have all been fairly active up to this point, so let’s take a closer look at what they’ve been up to.

Chicago Bears

Early on Monday, it was reported that the Bears were in contract talks with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater but obviously that didn’t pan out as Bridgewater is now with Carolina. And since then, Chicago has also been linked to Andy Dalton and Nick Foles on the trade market as well. However, if that is the case, those talks don’t appear to be going anywhere.

While it may not be today or tomorrow, at some point Chicago will likely add a quarterback for the upcoming season. In addition to the uncertainty around Mitch Trubisky, they lost their reliable backup, Chase Daniel, to Detroit.

So far the biggest signing that the Bears have made has been for Robert Quinn, who will form quite the one-two punch with Khalil Mack. Chicago would also sign Jimmy Graham to a two year – $16 million deal.

This move was a bit of a head-scratcher because based on his performance in Green Bay, it’s hard to envision Graham living up to this new deal. Especially when it’s not Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.

Free Agent Additions:

Demetrius Harris TE, Robert Quinn DE, Jimmy Graham TE

Free Agent Losses:

Nick Kwiatkoski LB, Chase Daniel QB, Nick Williams DT, Kevin Pierre-Louis OLB

Detroit Lions

After losing Ricky Wagner to the Green Bay Packers, Detroit had a big hole to fill at the tackle position. So to address that need, they gave Halapoulivaati Vaitia a five-year deal worth $45 million. During his career in Philly, Vaitai filled in here and there and at times very well. However, he never managed to crack the starting lineup consistently.

And as they’ve done in the past under head coach Matt Patricia, Detroit would sign a former Patriot, and this time it was linebacker Jamie Collins. They would also add defensive tackles, Nick Williams from the Bears and Danny Shelton from New England, which was a big need considering Mike Daniels, Damon Harrison, and A’Shawn Robinson are all pending free agents.

Free Agent Additions:

Chase Daniel QB, Halapoulivaati Vaitai OT, Jamie Collins OLB, Nick Williams DT, Danny Shelton DT

Free Agent Losses:

Graham Glasgow OL, Ricky Wagner OT, Jeff Driskel QB

Minnesota Vikings

After trying to finagle his way out of Minnesota for a few months now, the Vikings made the decision to trade wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. And to their credit, they got a haul in return for him. However, at this point, the Vikings’ roster is worse off than it was just a week ago.

Before the legal tampering period even began, we saw them move on from Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, and Xavier Rhodes. On top of that, they lost Trae Waynes to Cincinnati and as I just mentioned, Diggs is now gone as well. And Packer fans should be thrilled about not having to face him twice a year.

As of now, the Vikings haven’t made any additions either and while they now have quite a few draft picks available to them, they also have a lot of holes that need to be filled as well.

Free Agent Additions:

None

Free Agent Losses:

Trae Waynes CB, Stephen Weatherly DE

All free agent information courtesy of Spotrac