North Notes: Steelers, Dalton, Vikings, Packers

The Steelers missed the playoffs for a second straight season in 2013, the first time that has happened since 2000, but president Art Rooney II tells Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’s happy with the moves the club made in the offseason.

“I like where we are,” Rooney said. “Obviously, the proof is in the pudding, but I think we addressed a lot of concerns, and now it’s a matter of developing this group into a winning team.”

Here are a few more items from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • The $5MM roster bonus included in Andy Dalton‘s new extension with the Bengals will be paid out today, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com.
  • Dalton’s deal is the second quarterback extension in a row with a modest signing bonus, notes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, adding that it will be interesting to see if that trend continues for the next wave of QBs to sign new deals. Veterans like Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, and Eli Manning could push for sizable signing bonuses, which may help young signal-callers like Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Robert Griffin III get similar deals.
  • New Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has been running through extensive hypothetical in-game scenarios with GM Rick Spielman in an effort to prepare himself for key decisions he’ll face in each game, as Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com details in an interesting piece.
  • For the first time in Aaron Rodgers‘ career with the Packers, offensive coordinator Tom Clements will be working from the coaches’ booth rather than the sideline this season, allowing him to get a better look at everything happening on the field, writes Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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