NFC North Insiders: Key Additions and Departures

Our four NFC North beat writers get you ready for the 2022 NFL season with a series of previews. Part 2 of our roundtable discussion: the big addition and big departure from each team.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have absolutely dominated the NFC North during Matt LaFleur’s three seasons as coach.

In 2019, his debut season, Green Bay won the division by three games. In 2020 and again in 2021, it rolled to division titles by overwhelming five-game margins.

From the Land of the Absurd, Rodgers has thrown 169 touchdown passes vs. just 25 interceptions in 78 games against division opponents. Meanwhile, during Rodgers’ starting career, Bears quarterbacks have thrown 32 touchdowns vs. 42 interceptions in 28 games against Green Bay.

Perhaps the winds of change are blowing. This offseason, the Packers lost six starters. One of them, receiver Davante Adams, was Rodgers’ favorite target. The Bears hired quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy as their offensive coordinator and signed Lucas Patrick and Equanimeous St. Brown. The Vikings hired outside linebackers coach Mike Smith as their outside linebackers coach and pass-rush specialist, then signed Za’Darius Smith and Chandon Sullivan.

Our NFC North insiders – Bill Huber of Packer Central, Will Ragatz of Inside the Vikings, Gene Chamberlain of Bear Digest and John Maakaron of All Lions – get you ready for the season with a 12-piece roundtable discussion. In Part 2 of this series, we focus on each team’s big addition and big loss.

Green Bay Packers: Four Receivers/OC Nathaniel Hackett

Addition: No one person can replace an All-Pro like Davante Adams. Over the past six seasons, Adams led all NFL receivers in receptions, yards and touchdowns. With several years of dominating play, Adams had put himself on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

Rather than putting all his eggs in one basket, general manager Brian Gutekunst responded by signing veteran Sammy Watkins and drafting Christian Watson (second round), Romeo Doubs (fourth round) and Samori Toure (seventh round). That’s four tries in hopes of finding the team’s next star receiver.

The Packers packaged their two second-round picks in a trade with Minnesota to move up to No. 34 to get Watson, the former North Dakota State star with a ridiculous combination of size and speed. One of the dumb national narratives is how the Packers haven’t given Aaron Rodgers a first-round receiver. That’s true, but the Packers have made a killing with second-round receivers Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Adams. The Packers hope – no, the Packers need – Watson to be the next in line.

Loss: The easy (and correct) answer for the biggest loss is Adams. But that’s too obvious. So, let’s deviate a bit and go with Nathaniel Hackett. The team’s offensive coordinator the past three seasons, he is the new head coach of the Denver Broncos.

More than X’s and O’s, Hackett was brimming with creativity, energy and a fun-loving spirit that took the drudgery out of meetings. Hackett turned the red zone into the gold zone because Goldmember of Austin Powers fame loved gold and the Packers loved touchdowns. Weird? Maybe, but it was stuff like that that kept things fresh and fun.

Coach Matt LaFleur filled the void by promoting Adam Stenavich from offensive line coach. Will the offense be as creative with Stenavich? And will Stenavich’s replacement, Luke Butkus, have the same Midas touch on an offensive line?

Minnesota Vikings: Coaches Kevin O'Connell/Mike Zimmer

Addition: There are so many to choose from here, from a new GM and coaching staff to players like Za'Darius Smith and Lewis Cine. Ultimately, the choice has to be O'Connell. The Vikings fired Mike Zimmer in January after eight mostly successful seasons and replaced him with O'Connell, who is coming off a Super Bowl win as Sean McVay's right-hand man and offensive coordinator. He's now the second-youngest head coach in the NFL (only McVay is younger) and will be calling plays for the first time. There are a lot of unknowns that come with that.

The Vikings kept the roster mostly the same this offseason, indicating they believe Zimmer was the problem in recent years. They are all in on O'Connell as a leader, an offensive guru, and a key piece of the new collaborative culture they're trying to establish. Because the roster is built to win now, there's no grace period for O'Connell. He needs to make the playoffs in Year 1.

Loss: Wait, what? How can I pick the incoming coach as the big addition and the outgoing coach as the big loss? For starters, the Vikings didn't lose any key players this offseason, as they probably upgraded by replacing Anthony Barr (with Jordan Hicks), Michael Pierce (with Harrison Phillips), and Xavier Woods (with rookie Lewis Cine).

Secondly, this feels a bit like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation. Yes, Zimmer the head coach needed to go, but the Vikings might end up missing Zimmer the defensive wizard. The Vikings were elite defensively from 2015 through 2019, and even when the personnel was no longer great over the past two years, they were still incredible on third downs and in the red zone thanks to Zimmer's brilliance as a schemer and play-caller. New defensive coordinator Ed Donatell has big shoes to fill on that side of the ball.

Chicago Bears: S Jaquan Brisker/OLB Khalil Mack

Addition: Brisker, the second-round pick from Penn State, arrived at rookie camp making plays on the ball and didn't stop until OTAs and mandatory minicamp ended. Brisker is a player capable of takeaways and he'll be playing in a role and scheme designed to create them.

Even if Brisker is merely adequate as a rookie, he provides a dynamic the Bears haven't had since Adrian Amos left in free agency – a young, explosive safety who actually enjoys coming down near the line to deliver punishment with speed and instincts to go back in coverage. This finally returns Eddie Jackson to a role he had in 2018 when he made six interceptions. Jackson will be a center fielder.

Loss: Gauging the loss of Mack will be difficult because the scheme changed to a 4-3 from a 3-4. After Mack’s season ended in the seventh game, Robert Quinn went on to a franchise-record 18 1/2 sacks and Trevis Gipson had seven sacks, anyway, so it would appear they got beyond the loss of a sack producer.

But Mack's absence could be felt last year in lack of consistency with the pass rush and in how they lost his run-stopping ability. They finished 23rd against the run, their worst ranking since 2016. Even though their 49 sacks were fourth-most in the NFL, they ranked 23rd (23.1%) at pressuring the passer, according to Sportradar.

Mack makes so many run stops off the back side that teams almost need to assign an extra blocker there. This totally defeats the purpose of their blocking scheme. The Bears also lack Mack's leadership, and although he is normally a rather laid-back guy off the field, he plays with intensity. This group needs to come up with more players who step up at big moments.

Detroit Lions: WR D.J. Chark/LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin

Addition: Detroit’s offense struggled drastically to begin last season. Quarterback Jared Goff was new to town and simply did not have enough offensive firepower to get anything done. Breshad Perriman flamed out before the season began and Tyrell Williams went down early in the season opener with a head injury and never returned to the lineup. So, the free agents who were expected to help did absolutely nothing.

The addition of Chark on a prove-it-deal gives Detroit another big target for Goff. Chark, who measured 6-foot-4 and ran his 40 in 4.34 seconds at the 2018 Scouting Combine before being drafted in the second round by the Jacksonville Jaguars, caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns to earn Pro Bowl honors in 2019. After missing a significant portion of 2021 with an ankle injury, Chark is poised to return and contribute almost immediately. But can he stay healthy after playing in 43 of a possible 65 games during his four seasons in Jacksonville?

With Chark, 2021 breakout rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown and 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams, Goff certainly has more weapons to target this season, which should improve his confidence and performance.

Loss: The Lions took a lot of heat from supporters for signing many of their own free agents after only winning three games last season. General manager Brad Holmes is seeking a certain type of player, and the majority of contracts that have been handed out have been for only one season.

One of the players who departed was Reeves-Maybin, who started only three games his first four seasons but got the nod 11 times in 2021. Following a season of 72 tackles, four passes defensed and two forced fumbles, he inked two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Houston Texans.

The coaching staff often spoke positively of him during his tenure, and he was a solid contributor on special teams with a team-high 10 tackles. But Detroit has young linebackers waiting to take the next step in their career, including Derrick Barnes and rookie Malcolm Rodriguez.