No on Defense/ OL only Zone!

Minnesota Vikings: Mike Zimmer overreacted to last year’s subpar defensive performance.

Speaking to reporters recently about the defense, Zimmer said, “Honestly, at the end of the season, I was kind of down in the dumps when I kept looking at the depth chart and knowing what kind of salary-cap space we had.”

It’s fair to wonder whether Zimmer should have had more faith in his own abilities when looking ahead. Danielle Hunter missed all of last season with an injury, and nose tackle Michael Pierce opted out. The Vikings used first- and third-round picks on cornerbacks Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler last year. In other words, it would’ve been reasonable to expect Minnesota’s defense to improve in 2021, and the Vikings weren’t a complete disaster. They ranked 18th in defensive efficiency.

But it’s no secret how Zimmer wants to play, and Minnesota ended up signing Patrick Peterson to a one-year, $8 million deal and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to a two-year, $21 million deal.

“The Peterson move I didn’t understand at all,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s over 30 and clearly on the down side of his career. The Cardinals have no corners at all and didn’t seem to want him back. I don’t know based on where they’re at why they needed him. There’s other younger corners they could’ve gotten deals on that would’ve had more potential.”

Tomlinson has been a very good player, but the Vikings just signed Pierce to a three-year, $27 million deal last offseason. The team has offensive line questions, and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak retired. Meanwhile, Hunter is unhappy with his contract.

“I don’t see what kind of leverage he could have,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s under contract for three more seasons. He missed all of last year. I don’t see how you ask for a raise after that. I get it. The contract he signed wasn’t good. But we said that the day it was signed, that it was just an awful, awful deal in the context of what pass rushers were getting paid.”

The Vikings’ defense should be better in 2021, but overall they appear to be a high-floor, low-ceiling team.

NFC North

Chicago Bears: They are a directionless franchise.

The Bears might be the NFL’s best example right now of an organization with no plan. Their moves reflect a GM and a coach who are simply trying to keep the team competitive to save their jobs.

Chicago used the franchise tag on Allen Robinson and signed Andy Dalton to a one-year, $10.5 million deal. The Bears released cornerback Kyle Fuller and will replace him with Desmond Trufant. They signed kicker Cairo Santos to a three-year, $9 million deal. Santos has been on five different teams in the last four years.

“It’s just a mess,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s nobody they can get at quarterback, so I get why they went after Dalton. Why they went after Dalton at $10.5 million, who are you gonna lose him to? I just don’t see the purpose of that at all.

“The Robinson stuff has made no sense at all. There’s no reason to have him on the tag. You either get a long-term extension done, which should’ve been last year, or you let him walk. I don’t get it. I don’t get anything they’re doing at this point. The kicker for $3 million per year. Ok, he had a good season last year. He’s bounced around team to team for some time. And you have such a bad salary cap situation. You can’t spend $3 million a year on your kicker. You’ve got to get everything else in order.”

Detroit Lions: They were sincere when they said they’d be patient.

Other than re-signing defensive end Romeo Okwara to a three-year, $37 million deal, the Lions mostly stuck to low- and mid-level free agents. They acquired Jared Goff in the Matthew Stafford trade and took fliers on guys like Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. Building through the draft is the right approach, given the state of the roster.

“The Okwara deal, I think it was fine,” Fitzgerald said. “He was one of the hardest guys that I really had a problem with when it came to finding a value for him. He’s just been so up and down. I could’ve seen him going for as low as $5 million and as high as $15 million. I think if they had waited a little bit longer, given how the market ended up, they might have gotten a little bit better deal, but I don’t think it would’ve been much different.”

Fitzgerald noted that since Okwara is a returning player, signing him won’t count against the comp pick formula.

Green Bay Packers: They took a gamble with how they allocated their resources.

The Aaron Jones deal is technically four years, $48 million, but Fitzgerald noted that’s a bit misleading.

“It’s a bloated deal, kind of like the (Alvin) Kamara contract,” he said. “The real value is a two-year, $20 million contract. There’s a balloon payment in the third year.”

The Packers could have tagged Jones for around $8 million in 2021, but given their cap situation, that was not an ideal option. Jones’ cap hit in 2021 on the new deal is $4.475 million.

It’s fair to question whether the money the Packers are spending on Jones would have been better used on other parts of the roster. They lost center Corey Linsley and could have upgraded at cornerback or the front seven. Green Bay ended up bringing back Kevin King on a one-year, $6 million deal.

It has been an uninspiring offseason for the Packers. Then again, we’ve said that before, and they’re 26-6 in the last two seasons and have made the NFC title game both years. With what they’re bringing back, the Packers should once again be on the short list of favorites in the NFC.