NFC NORTH ROUNDUP: Suh Update, Julius Thomas, and Brandon Marshall

Image courtesy of Vikings.com

A quick peek over our play cards to see what our greatest enemies are up to these days:

DETROIT LIONS

The saga that is unfolding with Ndamukong Suh is incredibly important to the future of the Detroit Lions. It could be equally as important for another team, too, if Suh hits the open market and decides to jump ship for a new contract in a new NFL city.

Detroit’s defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, however, doesn’t seem willing to admit that Suh’s departure is a possibility and sounds ready to have him back.

“It hasn’t crossed my mind,” Austin told the Lions’ official website. “I’m planning on him being back.”

The Lions can franchise tag Suh if they want, but it would be a price tag north of $26 million, which makes it almost entirely unfeasible despite how good Suh is at his job. Then again, Austin seems to be on Suh’s bandwagon when it comes to being a special player worth a special amount of money.

“You can’t get around it. You can sugar coat it or say whatever you want, but he’s a great player. He changes the game,” Austin said.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

The Green Bay Packers approach free agency in the same way I approach Netflix. We both scan through the endless options and very seldom actually pull the trigger.

If the Packers were to make a splashy move this offseason, however, it would make a certain amount of sense to add a redzone target to help Aaron Rodgers capitalize on his offense’s ability to drive the ball. It is a scary thought, actually, to think about an even more potent Green Bay offense.

This is why Football Outsiders thinks Denver’s Julius Thomas, a potential free agent tight end, could be worth it to the Packers to break from their usual habits and spend some cash this offseason.

The Packers are expected to enter free agency with about $25 million in cap space, so they could certainly spring for a new feature in their offense if they wanted to.

CHICAGO BEARS

Brandon Marshall signed a four year contract just last May, but a lot has happened since then, and even Marshall knows he may not get his wish of retiring as a Chicago Bear.

“Like I said in the middle of the season, some players think that when you lose, oh, the coach is going to be gone,” Marshall recently stated. “No, they move players, too. I get that and understand that.”

The Bears don’t exactly have salary cap problems with free agency approaching, but there is no ignoring that they could save $3.95 million by releasing Marshall prior to March 12th. The move would also save them $7.7 million in cash.

Injuries caught up with Marshall in 2014 and his 61 catches for 721 yards were his lowest statistical output since his rookie season in 2006.

Adam Gase is the new offensive coordinator in Chicago who was Marshall’s receivers coach in 2009 with Denver.

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