Chicago Bears: Marcus Mariota, QB (Tennessee Titans)
The Chicago Bears enter the 2020 off-season with a few different holes to patch, and not a ton of cap space. The Bears currently have $16.6 million to spend on the open market, and they would benefit from adding pieces on the offensive line (guards Joe Thuney or Brandon Schreff would be ideal but perhaps cost-prohibitive) as well as tight end.
However, there is also the quarterback position. Mitchell Trubisky has not lived up to the billing, and everyone around the league believes that the organization is going to at least acquire a veteran passer to push Trubisky from the backup spot. Andy Dalton could make a great deal of sense for Chicago via a trade, but if they go the free agent route, Mariota needs to be their target.
What is lacking right now from the Chicago offense is a quarterback who can simply run the system, make the right decisions quickly, and keep the offense on track. Mariota, despite some of his other shortcomings as a quarterback, can do that. He also brings some mobility to the position, which is a growing necessity in the modern NFL. Signing Mariota to an incentive-laden contract would make a great deal of sense, and if Trubisky continues to struggle Matt Nagy can turn to a quarterback who likely runs his offense more efficiently in the long run.
Detroit Lions: Chris Harris, Jr, CB (Denver Broncos)
Harris returns to the board here, for another team that is in need of boosting their talent in the secondary. Scan through any mock draft, and you will likely see Ohio State cornerback Jeffrey Okudah penciled in with the Lions’ selection in the third spot. While that certainly makes sense, the organization might want to double down at the CB spot and acquire Harris as well.
Why? It being with Darius Slay. The current Lions cornerback is entering the final year of his contract and is looking for a long-term deal, but he is coming off a subpar season a year ago. Trade rumors are swirling around the Detroit CB, and if the team does move him via trade, the Lions would need another corner.
Harris can step into the Detroit defense and serve a variety of roles. He can be a slot corner, as he has been for much of his career, but he has shown the versatility to serve on the boundary as well. Pairing Okudah with Harris would give Matt Patricia some flexibility in the secondary, with the ability to play matchups in the secondary. Patricia’s former boss, Bill Belichick, loves to play matchups in the secondary, sometimes taking his best cover cornerback and putting him on the offense’s number two option, and then dedicating safety help over the top of the offense’s most dangerous threat. Patricia, with Harris and Okudah, could do something similar in Detroit, while also having a player in Harris who can slide into the slot and handle dangerous slot players such as Davante Adams, who was moved into the slot down the stretch last season.
Green Bay Packers: A.J. Green, WR (Cincinnati Bengals)
The Green Bay Packers need to find a running mate for Davante Adams. They can certainly wait to accomplish that in the draft, and with the deep wide receiver class coming out this season there is a chance a very solid WR option falls to them at the 30th overall selection. Players such as Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State or Denzel Mims from Baylor are such options.
But when healthy, A.J. Green remains a game-breaker at the wide receiver spot. Green has the size, length and burst to fill the X receiver role in the Packers’ offense, and if the Packers want to maximize what is left of the Aaron Rodgers window, they need to add an explosive downfield element to their offense. Green can work to stretch defenses vertically, while also creating space underneath for Adams and other options such as Allan Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and tight end Jace Sternberger.
The Packers could go in another direction, and address linebacker with either Joe Schobert or Cory Littleton, or tight end with Hunter Henry, Eric Ebron or Austin Hooper. But their best impact could come in the form of Green. A pair of top-flight options in Green and Adams would force the defense to play more two-high coverages, also opening up the running game as well as the middle of the field for Sternberger, who excelled at attacking the seams while in college.
Minnesota Vikings: Graham Glasgow, G (Detroit Lions)
The Minnesota Vikings are up against it from a salary cap perspective. They enter free agency with just $1.4 million available, and while they have needs at cornerback and up front on defense, they might need to address those via draft.
Minnesota also has a need in the interior of the offensive line. Garrett Bradbury, their second-year center, could use use a solid running mate alongside him. That makes upgrading at offensive guard a smart play for the Vikings. The two main options, Brandon Schreff and Joe Thuney, might be difficult to acquire given the salaries they will command and Minnesota’s current cap picture. But Glasgow would be a solid option what will not hamstring Minnesota from a cost perspective. Glasgow slid into the right guard spot for the Lions last season and he did not allow a single sack a year ago. His experience and solid play would be a boost to both the Minnesota offense as well as a great influence on the Vikings’ young center.