NFC North Notes: Tate, Ansah, Vikings

The Lions have yet to discuss an extension with wide receiver Golden Tate as he enters the final year of his deal, but GM Bob Quinn left the door open to that possibility.

“I think all those things in my time here have happened in the summer,” Quinn said (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “I think our concentration and our focus right now is on the draft. Things that come down the road after that, they’ll come and go and we’ll talk through it.”

Tate has at least 90 catches in all four of his seasons in Detroit and he has topped 1,000 yards receiving in each of those years except for 2015. Tate’s asking price could be higher than initially expected given the boom of the slot receiver market, but he won’t cost anywhere near as much as Jarvis Landry with his 30th birthday coming up in August. The Lions initially signed the 29-year-old to a five-year, $31MM deal back in 2014.

Here’s more from around the NFC North:

• Sticking with the Lions, Quinn said he “hopes” Ezekiel Ansah signs his franchise tender prior to training camp and that he never gave the team any reason to believe he wouldn’t, via Birkett. Ansah is expected to play under a franchise of $17.14MM this season. Birkett also noted that the team had hoped Ansah and new head coach Matt Patricia would develop a relationship before they began working on any long-term deal. The former top-10 pick logged 12 sacks last season, which was the second-most in his five-year career.
• Vikings coach Mike Zimmer expressed interest in continuing to call the team’s defensive plays, rather than hand the duties over to defensive coordinator George Edwards. This could certainly impact any future head-coaching opportunities for Edwards after the Vikings boasted the top-ranked defense in last year’s regular season. Zimmer said in December he was considering letting Edwards calling the plays. Zimmer also spoke on the matter to Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf in a post-season meeting. “I think it’s something I do good,” Zimmer said at the NFL owner’s meetings, via Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I don’t want to be a second-guess coach; when George calls something, I don’t want to say, ‘Oh, I hate that call.’ I’ve had that in the past. It’s not good for that. 
• On Wednesday, we learned that the Vikings re-signed cornerback and punt returner Marcus Sherels

Zach Links contributed to this report