Though Devin McCourty ultimately re-signed with the Patriots, two NFC North clubs were hot on his trail. The Bears were involved until the bidding got above $9MM per year, says Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), while the Vikings also had interest, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Here’s more from the NFC North:
- Free agent tight end Virgil Green will have a strong market, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, and he’ll probably decide between the Bears and Broncos, though other teams are interested.
- Restricted free agent offensive lineman Don Barclay hasn’t heard if the Packers will tender him, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link). If Bryan Bulaga isn’t re-signed, Barclay would likely become Green Bay’s starting right tackle, so Demovsky believes that GB will ultimately offer him a contract.
- Lest we forget long snappers are people too, Biggs reports (via Twitter) that the Bears are interested in long snapper Tanner Purdum, who spent 2014 with the Jets.