North Notes: Packers, Steelers, Allen, Browns

Let’s take a quick spin around the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is “fed up” with general manager Ted Thompson‘s refusal to use free agency to bring in veteran reinforcements, sources tell Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thompson and the rest of the Green Bay front office are famously loath to enter the free agent period, instead opting to rely on draft picks only to bolster the roster. But that approach seems to be taking its toll on McCarthy, on whom McGinn also places plenty of blame for the Packers’ disappointing 2015 campaign.
  • Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette doesn’t believe cornerback Cortez Allen will remain on the Steelers‘ roster in 2016, calling Allen’s 2014 extension “one of the worst big-money contracts” in club history. Head coach Mike Tomlin admitted on Friday that he’s not convinced Allen can be an impact player, and given that Pittsburgh could save $1.7MM against the cap by releasing Allen, it’s fair to speculate that he won’t return.
  • In her latest mailbag for Cleveland.com, Mary Kay Cabot answers questions about the Browns‘ chances of landing Cal quarterback Jared Goff, whether Josh McCown will be retained, and the latest on receiver Josh Gordon.
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