Biggest Positional Needs for All 32 NFL Teams - NFC North Edition

February 18, 2024

Rob looks at each NFL team in the NFC North and looks at what kind of offseason assets they have, both financially and draft capital wise. Each team's top three positional needs are identified.

The NFC North featured two playoff teams - the Packers and the Lions - from this past season. This division looks to be one of the strongest in the NFL. Detroit is already seen as a Super Bowl and major NFC contender. The Packers started to take steps toward that last season. With the expected growth from so many of their young players, especially star quarterback Jordan Love, the Packers are going to become major players in the NFC and Super Bowl discussion sooner rather than later.

The Bears finished 7-10 despite missing four games from quarterback, Justin Fields and their defense really seemed to turn a corner in the second half of last season. With the draft capital they have at the top of the first round, Chicago could also become a dangerous team if they're ever able to figure out the quarterback position. This division is filled with a lot of really good young players and multiple teams who could challenge for the NFC crown. However, all four teams have plenty of work to do.

In this article, we'll be looking at each's team 2023 season and identifying what kind of offseason assets they have moving into this crucial part of the NFL season. Free agency and the NFL Draft set the tone and the blueprint for each team's season. We'll be identifying the three biggest needs that each team has. This article is part of an ongoing series where we'll be doing the same thing for every division in the NFL. This is the second edition, but you can check out yesterday's first entry featuring the AFC North here. If you want to take advantage of all of our great premium tools, please use promo code, "BOOM" to receive a 10% discount. 

Chicago Bears

Season Review and Offseason Assets

The Bears finished this past season 7-10. There were questions surrounding the status of head coach Matt Eberflus, but the front office ultimately chose to retain him. Offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy was fired and Shane Waldron was hired in his place. Waldron had been the passing game coordinator under Sean McVay and the Rams from 2018-2020. Over the past three seasons, he’s operated as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bears finished 18th in points scored and 20th in yards gained. Starting quarterback, Justin Fields missed 4.5 games with a thumb injury. Their defense finished 20th in points allowed and 12th in yards given up but was one of the best units in the second half of the season. They finished the season going 5-3 after Fields returned from injury.

Chicago has just over $80 million in cap space. Some of that will go towards an extension for star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who is a free agent. If an extension cannot be agreed upon, he’ll receive the franchise tag, which would guarantee him $18.4 million. They recently cut Eddie Jackson and Cody Whitehair, increasing the need at safety and at the interior of their offensive line. The Bears do not have any “must re-sign” players.

They own the No. 1 (first-rounder), No.9 (first-rounder), No. 75 (third-rounder), No. 110 (fourth-rounder), No. 122 (fourth-rounder), and No. 142 (fifth-rounder) in this year’s NFL Draft. Plenty of reports have indicated they are likely to trade Justin Fields, which would give them just over $70 million in cap space. The return on Fields is estimated to be similar to the Sam Darnold trade who went for a second, fourth, and sixth-round pick.

Biggest Needs

1. Quarterback

Fields is an exciting quarterback. He has a good arm and he’s incredibly athletic. The problem is he’s just not consistent enough throwing the football. This isn’t all his fault. Chicago has afforded him little to no help in his three years with the Bears. One could easily argue they’ve been a bigger detriment to his growth than aid. All of that is irrelevant now because the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick due to last year’s trade and they cannot afford to pass on quarterback a second time. On the season, the Bears’ passing offense finished 27th in expected points contributed by the passing offense with -27. Out of 33 quarterbacks with at least seven starts, Fields finished:

• 29th in completion percentage
• 25th in passing yards per game
• 23rd in touchdowns per game
• 10th highest interception rate
• 23rd in success percentage
• 20th in yards per attempt
• 22nd in quarterback rating
• 3rd highest sack percentage

Last year, C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young were two really good prospects, but Caleb Williams is in a tier above both as far as prospect ratings go. Williams is a borderline elite prospect. Chicago gave Fields DJ Moore and it didn’t lead to much better efficiency. They cannot hope that a new offensive coordinator can fix him, not when they have the opportunity to draft one of the best quarterback prospects in recent history.

2. Wide Receiver

Darnell Mooney is a free agent and so is Equanimeous St. Brown. They have Tyler Scott and Velus Jones Jr. under contract with Moore. Every single non-DJ Moore receiver last year combined for 123 targets, 62 receptions, 726 yards, and two touchdowns. Scott and Jones, under contract for 2024 had 39 targets, 21 receptions, 188 yards, and zero touchdowns. Moore is a star, but they are in dire need of a legit No. 2 and No. 3 receiver.

3. Edge Rusher

The Bears traded for Montez Sweat midway through the 2023 season. He finished with six sacks. This led the team. No other player finished with more than five sacks. Justin Jones finished with 4.5 sacks and Yannick Ngakoue had four sacks, finishing second and third in sacks for the team. Both of them are free agents. Chicago finished with just 30 sacks, which was the second-lowest in the NFL. They were 23rd in pressures with 127 and 27th in pressure percentage at 18.8%.

4. Other Positions of Need: Interior Offensive Line, Defensive Line.

Detroit Lions

Season Review and Offseason Assets

Detroit finished 12-5 and won the NFC North. They advanced to the NFC Championship Game and dominated the 49ers the entire first half. They ultimately lost the game 34-31. They gave up 27 second-half points and scored just seven themselves. It was an epic collapse. However, it was still an extremely successful season for an organization that has been almost immune to winning over the past decade. They were able to retain offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn who both received head coaching interest. They finished fifth in points scored and third in yards gained. The defense was the biggest issue. They finished 23rd in points allowed and 19th in yards given up.

The Lions have just under $64 million in cap space. They have a couple of players they could be looking to re-sign for 2024. Guard Jonah Jackson is a free agent who has been a good player for them and has made a Pro Bowl in his first four seasons. Other free agents of interest could be Josh Reynolds, Emmanuel Mosley, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Detroit could also begin extension talks with Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown and Goff will be free agents after the 2024 season, while Sewell is likely to have his fifth-year option picked up. While it may seem like they have a lot of cap room, the front office is likely saving a large chunk of that cash for the three players just previously mentioned.

They own the No. 29 (first-rounder), No. 61 (second-rounder), No. 73 (third-rounder), No. 92 (third-rounder), No. 162 (fifth-rounder), No. 206 (sixth-rounder), and No. 246 (seventh-rounder) overall picks in this year’s NFL Draft.

Biggest Needs

1. Cornerback

The Lions gave up the sixth-most passing yards, sixth-most passing touchdowns, sixth-highest touchdown rate, the second-highest yard per attempt average, the 12th-highest quarterback rating, and finished 31st in expected points contributed by passing defense at -138. That’s a secondary that needs a lot of help. However, their safeties, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Brian Branch are very good. They need help at cornerback. Branch played some slot cornerback, but other than him, Cameron Sutton is the only cornerback of note who will be back in 2024. This position needs some reinforcements and they could use an alpha leader who can man up opposing No. 1 receivers.

2. Pass Rusher

Aidan Hutchinson is a star already. He finished with 11.5 sacks and 33 quarterback hits. He’s a menace on the defensive line, but he needs help. Just one other player, Alim McNeil had five sacks or more for the Lions last season. Detroit finished just 24th with 41 sacks. This didn’t necessarily stop them from having a good pass rush. They finished with the most pressures and hurries, but adding more talent to their defensive front seven could help turn more of those pressures and hurries into sacks.

3. Interior Offensive Line

If you wanted to argue for receiver here, I get it. Josh Reynolds is a free agent. Donovan Peoples-Jones is a free agent and so is Kalif Raymond. It pretty much leaves the Lions with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. They need help at receiver, but that has been the case in 2022 and 2023 and it didn’t affect their offensive production. What could affect them is if Jared Goff is not properly protected. He’s not a mobile quarterback and his splits between under pressure and a clean pocket are significant. They need to keep him clean. Jonah Jackson is a free agent and a prior Pro Bowl player. He’ll be an important player for the team to re-sign. Graham Glasgow operated as the opposite guard for most of the 2023 season and he’s also scheduled to be a free agent, as is Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Frank Ragnow has also dealt with injuries the past two seasons, which have limited him. Detroit will need to re-sign Jackson and/or Glasgow, but they currently have two holes at their guard positions and they could use added depth to account for Ragnow’s injuries.

4. Other Positions of Need: Wide Receiver

Green Bay Packers

Season Review and Offseason Assets

What many thought would be a rebuilding year turned into anything but. The Packers finished 9-8 and finished with the No. 7 spot in the NFC playoffs. They crushed the No. 3 seed Dallas Cowboys on the road in the opening round and it took the eventual NFC Champions, the San Francisco 49ers 58 minutes to finally pull ahead of the Packers in a game most would admit the Packers controlled throughout. Jordan Love fully cemented himself as the franchise quarterback and a likely MVP contender in the future. All in all, this season can only be described as an overwhelming success.

They finished with the 12th-most points scored and the 11th-most yards gained. They did that despite Aaron Jones missing six games and Christian Watson missing seven. They got major contributions from rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks. Their defense finished 10th in points allowed and 17th in yards given up, but continued to fall short in big spots. This is a team with a lot of young talent.

Green Bay enters the 2024 offseason with roughly $8 million in cap space. However, once they officially cut David Bakhtiari they’ll have over $29 million in cap space. They can restructure or extend Kenny Clark who has a cap hit of $27.5 million to increase their cap space. They can also restructure Jaire Alexander. If they opt to cut De’Vondre Campbell as a post-June 1 cut, they’d increase that $29 million of cap space to almost $40 million. Green Bay has plenty of flexibility and simple moves to get their cap space close to $55 million. They’ll extend Jordan Love this offseason, but he’s the only player the team is likely to engage in serious contract extension talks with. Guard, Jon Runyan Jr. and slot cornerback/returner Keisean Nixon are the only free agents that were counted as starters. Both could walk.

They own the No. 25 (first-rounder), No. 41 (second-rounder), No. 58 (second-rounder), No. 88 (third-rounder), No. 91 (third-rounder), No. 126 (fourth-rounder), No. 167 (fifth-rounder), No. 203 (sixth-rounder), No. 215 (sixth-rounder), No. 242 (seventh-rounder), and No. 250 (seventh-rounder) overall picks in this year’s NFL Draft.

Biggest Needs

1. Cornerback

The Packers opted to trade Rasul Douglas before the trade deadline last season. Keisean Nixon, their slot cornerback and primary return man is a free agent. Depth cornerback, Corey Ballentine is also a free agent. 2021 first round pick, Eric Stokes has only played 12 games in the past two seasons. He only played in three games in 2023 and registered just six tackles, primarily filling a bench role. His 2021 season as a rookie was excellent, but in the nine games he played in 2022, he appeared to take a large step back. Moving forward to 2024, the Packers cannot afford to put too much trust in Stokes and need to address the cornerback position. Outside of Stokes, they have Jaire Alexander and Carrington Valentine, who played well as a seventh-round rookie last season. This position could need as many as two starters and 1-2 depth players.

2. Safety

Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, and Jonathan Owens are all free agents. The only safety they have under contract is 2023 seventh-round selection, Anthony Johnson Jr. Even if the team brings back Ford or Owens, they’d still reasonably need two starters. Ford and Owens are best viewed as depth players and special teamers, but not full-time players. The Packers will need to add two viable safeties that can play considerable snaps in 2024.

3. Defensive Back

Having defensive back as the third need may seem unfair or weak considering we already touched on cornerback and safety, but the Packers don’t have many glaring holes. Jon Runyan Jr. is a free agent and he was their primary right guard. Josh Myers, their starting center is in the final year of his rookie contract in 2024. Interior offensive linemen could have been an option here. If they cut Campbell, they could use another starter opposite Quay Walker. That could become another option. However, right now, there is no bigger need than their secondary and there are many holes to fill. If they don’t re-sign Nixon, or any of the safeties, the team could have to find a starting boundary cornerback, a starting slot cornerback, and two starting safeties in free agency and the draft. Unlike guard and ILB where they could potentially have replacements ready to go in Sean Rhyan and Isaiah McDuffie, that isn’t true at cornerback. They have four holes and only one player under contract who could fill one of those spots.

4. Other Positions of Need: Interior Offensive Line, Defensive Line

Minnesota Vikings

Season Review and Offseason Assets

The Vikings had a rough season, but give credit to Kevin O’Connell because he had this team fighting until the end despite some huge injury issues. Kirk Cousins missed nine games and Justin Jefferson missed seven. Losing your starting quarterback, especially one as good as Cousins for over half of the season is going to have a huge negative impact. At the time of his injury, he was on pace for 4,954 yards and 38 touchdowns. Despite these injuries, the Vikings finished 7-10 and were in playoff contention until the final weeks of the season.

Their offense finished 22nd in points scored and 10th in yards gained. They struggled finishing drives late in the season, but with the loss of Cousins and Jefferson, that’s understandable. Their defense took a big step forward after their disastrous 2022 season. Brian Flores did a masterful job turning around the defense as they finished 13th in points allowed and 16th in yards given up. In 2022, they were 28th and 31st in those two respective categories.

Minnesota has just under $38 million in cap space. However, Jefferson is vying for a new long-term contract and Cousins is also a free agent. Danielle Hunter is a free agent despite a $15 million 2024 cap hit. The team will also need to make a hard decision on 35-year-old star safety, Harrison Smith. Cutting him would save the team $12 million. However, losing Hunter and Smith would create huge holes to fill. They signed guard Dalton Risner midway through the 2023 season to fill the hole created when they traded Ezra Cleveland to Jacksonville. He played well and could also be a player they try to bring back for 2024. The Vikings appear to be at a crossroads of sorts and how the front office decides to move forward will be very interesting.

The Vikings own the No. 11 (first-rounder), No. 42 (second-rounder), No. 108 (fourth-rounder), No. 129 (fourth-rounder), No. 155 (fifth-rounder), No. 164 (fifth-rounder), No. 178 (sixth-rounder), and No. 189 (sixth-rounder) overall picks in this year’s NFL Draft.

Biggest Needs

1. Quarterback

Right now, their starting quarterback is either Nick Mullens or Jaren Hall. Cousins is coming off a torn Achilles and is 36 years old. There’s an argument to be made that the Vikings should let Cousins walk and do whatever they have to in order to draft a quarterback in the first round. Maybe that’s moving up to No. 3 for Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels. Maybe that’s moving up to No. 7 to draft J.J. McCarthy. If Minnesota doesn’t love any of the quarterbacks in this year’s draft or believes the cost to move up is too pricey, re-signing Cousins to a two-year deal could also make some sense. In 2022, they went 13-4 and with Cousins and would have one of the most talented offenses in the NFL if he returns. What they decide is a huge decision that will impact their franchise into the future, but the quarterback position is the biggest decision the front office needs to make.

2. Pass Rusher

As previously mentioned, Hunter is a free agent. He generated 16.5 sacks last year. There was just one other player on the Vikings that had more than three sacks. That player was D.J. Wonnum. He finished with eight sacks and he’s also a free agent. Hunter and Wonnum combined for 57% of Minnesota’s team sacks. If Hunter and/or Wonnum leave in free agency, finding a pass-rusher is a must. The team signed Marcus Davenport to a one-year, prove-it deal last offseason, but he generated just two sacks this season. He’s a free agent, but likely won’t be re-signed. His loss isn’t a big one, but it further illustrates the need this team has at pass-rusher.

3. Defensive Line

Wonnum, Hunter, and Davenport are listed as outside linebackers or edge rushers in the team’s 3-4 scheme defense. All three are free agents. However, defensive line is also a big need for the team. Jonathan Bullard, who was a starter in 2023, and Sheldon Day, a rotational player are both free agents. Dean Lowry was another regular on the defensive line. These three players combined for three tackles for a loss, 66 tackles, two sacks, and two quarterback hits. Needless to say, all three of these players could be upgraded. Harrison Phillips was the only positive defensive lineman the Vikings had last season.

4. Other Positions of Need: Cornerback, Guard

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