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An artists's rendering of the proposed new Vikings stadium. Yes, it's another crappy dome.

What have the teams in the NFC North not named the Green Bay Packers been up to this offseason? Read on and find out.

Minnesota Vikings

Players Released: G Steve Hutchinson, G Anthony Herrera, CB Cedric Griffin, NT Remi Ayodele, TE Jim Kleinsasser (retired)

Free Agents Signed: TE John Carlson, FB Jerome Felton, RB Lex Hilliard, OL Geoff Schwartz, CB Zack Bowman

Re-Signings: DT Fred Evans, QB Sage Rosenfels, DL Letroy Guion, WR Devin Aromashodu

Holes on Roster: CB, S, LT, LG and WR

The Vikings ditched the Triangle of Authority and named Rick Spielman sole general manager not long after their 2011 season (mercifully) ended. Naturally, many Vikings fans expected Spielman to start signing free agents as soon as possible, anything to erase the memories of a 3-13 season that saw the Vikings take several steps backward while the Packers, Lions and Bears got better.

Those marquee free-agent signings never came. Instead, Spielman appears to be doing his best Ted Thompson impersonation by signing no-name free agents and talking about building through the draft. The one exception was signing TE John Carlson to a five-year, $25 million deal.  Read more... (1007 words + 1 image, estimated 4:02 mins reading time)

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Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson return to the rising category this week.

I’m still recovering from my Christmas food hangover, so no witty banter from me this week. We’re going straight to the stock report:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
Welcome back to the rising category, Mr. Rodgers. We missed you last week and I hope you never leave us again. You will likely get to take a breather in week 17 and you’ve earned it. Even though you often make it look so easy, I’m sure it’s a lot of work to throw for 4,643 yards, 45 TDs and only 6 INTs in 15 games. Throwing for five TDs against the Bears is a great way to cap an MVP season.

Jordy Nelson
The Jordy Nelson stiff-arm returned on Sunday night. So did the play where Rodgers fakes a handoff, bootlegs right, and hits Nelson for a long TD after No. 87 runs by two defensive backs. That’s the kind of game Nelson needs to have if Jennings is less than 100 percent for the playoffs.  Read more... (582 words + 1 image, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson

At this point of the season, it’s safe to say most readers of this site probably know where every team in the NFC North stands and why they’re in the position that they’re in. So instead of updating everyone with information they probably already know, we’ll take a different approach by examining recent NFC North draft classes.

I went back and listed every team’s draft choices from 2008-11 and broke down each team by examining their picks in the following categories:

Current starters: How many players drafted since 2008 are currently starting? I was fairly liberal in labeling players as “starters.” For example, Jordy Nelson does not “start” for the Packers (until Jennings got hurt, anyway), but for all intents and purposes, he’s a starter.

Home runs: These players are absolute studs, already pro bowlers or force other teams to game-plan specifically for them.

Future stars?: These players are already good, but haven’t reached their ceiling. A pro bowl or more could realisticially be in their future.

Late-round discoveries: Players drafted in rounds 4-7 that contribute and play much better than a typical player drafted in rounds 4-7.  Read more... (1312 words + 1 image, estimated 5:15 mins reading time)

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Caleb Hanie takes over for Jay Cutler in Chicago.

For a while, it looked like the NFC North might send the Packers, Bears and Lions to the playoffs. There’s a chance that still could happen, but it’s a longshot. With the Packers cruising, the Bears and Lions have some work to do if they want to grab a wild card slot.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings are holding down the bottom of the division while trying to get a new stadium.

It’s time for a trip around the NFC North.

Chicago Bears

Remaining schedule: Chiefs, at Broncos, Seahawks, at Packers, at Vikings.

Biggest issue: Making adjustments. Jay Cutler is out for at least the rest of the regular season, leaving Caleb Hanie to try and lead the Bears to the playoffs.

Analysis: The challenge the Bears face is actually twofold: Is Hanie capable of taking the Bears to the playoffs and is offensive coordinator Mike Martz capable of adjusting his gameplan to maximize Hanie’s strengths and mask his weaknesses?  Read more... (755 words + 1 image, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

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Here’s how the NFC North fared in Week 1 of the NFL season:

Bears (1-0), beat Atlanta Falcons, 30-12

All summer we heard how the Bears were destined for collapse in the 2011. Publications and respected sports writers from across the country picked Chicago to hover somewhere around or below .500 and willingly hand over their division crown to the Packers.

There were boat load of reasons, both legitimate and phony.

The offensive line can’t protect the quarterback. Jay Cutler lost the locker room’s respect after the NFC Championship game loss. The defensive stars are aging. Their luck will run out.

Then actual football was played, and the Bears put the majority of those worries to bed. Remember, this is the team that won the NFC North last season and hosted the conference’s title game. It was only one week, but they made idiots out of a lot of people who buried them this season before a single down of meaningful football was played.  Read more... (1424 words + 5 images, estimated 5:42 mins reading time)

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