NFC Notes: Matthew Golden, J.J. McCarthy, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• A league executive likes how Chicago has revamped their offensive line group this offseason: “I applaud them for doing it the way they are doing it. You get two proven commodities at guard, and the head coach (Ben Johnson) knows Jonah Jackson from Detroit. It’s an overpay for the center, but they have a chance to address left tackle in the draft and come away with a pretty formidable group.” (Mike Sando)
• The executive also thinks they could sacrifice the strength of the pocket to enable more wide-zone scheme running: “Detroit did a lot of that, but with the keeper element that Caleb Williams enables, your cutback is going to be there. Time will tell if their guard play enables the gap-scheme element as a complement. I do think the integrity of the pocket, with that center, will be compromised in dropback situations. I’d imagine they are planning on staying out of those situations as much as they can.” (Sando)
• Bears TE Colston Loveland on his shoulder after surgery: “Six months was the timetable. We’re three out right now. And it feels great. I got full range of motion and everything. I can do really everything, but just like super heavy weight. … We’re in a good spot.” (Adam Jahns)

Packers

The Packers selected Texas WR Matthew Golden with the No. 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. GM Brian Gutekunst thinks Golden is “wired exactly” like the rest of their roster. 

“He’s a very gifted athlete, gifted football player, but he’s also wired exactly how we want our guys in the locker room,” Gutekunst said, via PackersWire.

Gutekunst said Golden has the speed to stretch the field as an outside receiver.  

“Obviously, he has elite speed. His ability to stretch the field outside the numbers is really, really important. And when you watch him, we thought he arguably had some of the best hands in the draft. Not only coming back to it and running through it, but when he tracked it over his shoulder. He’s a strong athlete. He’s really versatile, he’s going to do a lot of things, but we thought he could play outside, and that was important to us.”

Gutekunst praised Golden’s catching ability and believes he has a lot of room to grow. 

“He catches the ball extremely well,” Gutekunst said. “His best football is ahead of him. He has a lot of room for growth.”

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said that QB J.J. McCarthy has put himself in a position physically to continue his progression and is ready to go next season.

“He’s always working,” O’Connell said, via PFT. “I think the spring is set up perfectly for J.J. with where he’s at from a standpoint of Phase I really being in a classroom setting, running and lifting, and continuing what he’s been able to do. A lot of his teammates haven’t been here, now the group comes back, he continues that, and eventually gets on the field and we can start throwing and catching a little bit before finalizing those two-three weeks of OTAs and minicamp where you get a little dabble of that competitive feel — running the huddle, running the show. So, all of it is going to kind of be systematically planned out for him. And I think he’s ready to attack it.”

McCarthy has put together a string of solid throwing days as well that gives O’Connell confidence in him being their starting quarterback next year.

“Now it’s just a matter of applying it with teammates and with detail,” O’Connell said. “And with repetition to try to apply those reps so we can start projecting what not only he can continue to improve at, what are the areas need to focus on? How can we craft this offense to make sure that we’re doing the things that he does well naturally while also challenging him to grow that pot of inventory that we can ultimately pull from.”