Free Agency Review - NFC North

The NFC North has seen a lot of activity this off season and may be able to boast of having some of the most improved rosters in the NFL. The question is; will the improved rosters lead to improved results?

-Chicago Bears-

Key Additions:

Allen Robinson	WR	3yrs	$42m
Taylor Gabriel	WR	4yrs	$26m
Trey Burton	TE	4yrs	$32m

Allen Robinson was one of the marquee free agents and the Bears were one of the most obvious landing spots. After losing all of last season to an ACL tear the former Jaguar will now be the #1 target for 2^nd year QB Mitchell Trubisky. Taylor Gabriel comes from the Falcons and adds a speedy outside option to stretch the field. Cameron Meredith won’t be returning after the Bears chose not to match the Saints offer sheet but with Robinson finally providing them with a primary target they can cope with losing Meredith. They recently signed Bennie Fowler who is one of many options to fill that 3rd WR role.

Trey Burton arriving from the Eagles may be another huge addition when it comes to fantasy. A pass catching tight end who can emerge out of Zach Ertz’s shadow and on a team where there hasn’t been talent at the position for a few years.  There have been changes on Defense too but their losses and gains roughly cancel and they have a strong outfit which makes playing them a dangerous proposition.

If Trubisky can’t succeed when the team have given him a chocolate box full of options then maybe he isn’t cut out for the NFL. All he needs to do is create the chemistry and they will be a team to watch. Don’t sleep on Jordan Howard or Tarik Cohen either since the Bears are certainly a good enough team to make them valuable assets provided Matt Nagy fits them in his system the right way.

-Detroit Lions-

Key Additions:

LeGarrette Blount	RB	1yr	$2m
Luke Willson	TE	1yr	$2.5m
Levine Toilolo	TE	1yr	$1.5m

Matt Patricia took over as the Lions Head Coach this off-season and celebrated by immediately having a shave. He also started by shaving a few names from the roster, ready to rebuild. Out went Frank Gore and Eric Ebron among others and replacements were sought from free agency. Patricia will have some familiarity with LeGarrette Blount considering their links to the Patriots and with Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah already there he has options, albeit not elite ones.

With the collapse of Ebron (anyone with an overzealous auto-correct function will understand why that comment is funny), the Lions have brought in Levine Toilolo and Luke Willson to hopefully improve the pass catch rate a bit but it’s probably a plus for the likes of Golden Tate, Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay.

Their defense will get stronger as Patricia gets his hands on it and with some decent offensive help from Jim Bob Cooter they have a chance to be a contender again, although more work will definitely need to be done first.  Fixing the O-Line and the run game could open up Matt Stafford and create a monster while maintaining and maybe further improving a pretty solid defense could put them over the top.

-Green Bay Packers-

Key Additions:

DeShone Kizer	QB	Trade
Jimmy Graham	TE	3yrs	$30m

The Packers will have Aaron Rodgers back from injury next season and will hope to challenge like they usually do with arguably the best fantasy QB at the helm. Rodgers will however have a different receiving corps around him with long time target (especially in the Red Zone) Jordy Nelson no longer there. After the full emergence of Davante Adams, Jordy was seen to be surplus to requirements and shipped off to the retirement home (or the Oakland Raiders as they are officially called). Randall Cobb retains his place albeit with not a lot of tread left on his tyres and so they will need someone else to step up. They have pieces and my hope is that you hear commentators say Geronimo (for Geronimo Allison) more often next season. 

Green Bay have rarely been a team to utilize the tight end as a pass catching option. Jermichael Finley was probably the last time they used a tight-end in a fantasy relevant way. However this off season they signed Jimmy Graham after he left Seattle, who as we all know, is a red-zone threat and decent pass catcher. On one side of the argument he could take a lot of Jordy Nelson’s targets and be a red-zone threat. On the other hand he could be a bit part like so many Packers tight-ends before him and his decline since leaving Drew Brees and the Saints will continue as time and injuries catch up to him. I’m more inclined to believe the latter and consider him as a risky fantasy option, but I can understand the hype others are giving him.

The Packers know that with Aaron Rodgers they can get things done no matter who is around him but they need to sort out what they want to do with their running game and their defense. Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery have their skills and their strengths, just how do they want to utilise them and how will that translate into fantasy relevance? On defense even though they’ve added Muhammad Wilkerson they still have a long way to go before they have a strong enough group to prevent Rodgers from needing to throw long so often. But we’re talking Aaron Rodgers here, that’s what he’s known for and what he does best!

-Minnesota Vikings-

Key Additions:

Kirk Cousins	QB	3yrs	$84m
Trevor Siemien	QB	Trade
Kendall Wright	WR	1yr	$1m

Captain Kirk will now steer the ship that is the Minnesota Vikings offence after boldly going where the money and chance at success both resided together. The 3 year, $84 dollar deal which is all guaranteed money is huge, considering they had the likes of Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford which they had to let go of (who are all starting calibre). They are definitely going for the win now approach and after their strong showing last year who can blame them. It was built on a strong defense and that hasn’t changed, really a new QB and new coaches is all that has changed.

Okay so Kendall Wright gets added to the mix but Adam Thielin and Stefon Diggs will be the two main receivers to own and will be drafted quite high up. Kyle Rudolph could see a huge uptick and if people are sleeping on him there’s a late round steal to be had.

As you can see the only other move of note was trading for Trevor Siemien to be their backup, completing the total QB room clear-out and restock which signals a quiet off-season. Then again, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.