NFC North Notes: Rodgers, Luck, Bears, Lions

After Andrew Luck became the highest-paid player in NFL history, should the Packers now give Aaron Rodgers a raise? Mike Florio of PFT notes that Rodgers – who has earned one Super Bowl MVP trophy and two league MVP awards – will earn just $12.6MM this year while Luck will be averaging $24MM+ per year in new money on his new pact.

Rodgers may be deserving of more money than the Colts QB, but what he lacks is leverage. Green Bay has Rodgers under team control for four more years with an average payout of about $17MM/year. The Packers certainly want to keep the face of their franchise happy, but there’s not much Rodgers can really do to force their hand.

Here’s more from the NFC North:

  • Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com says the Bears were smart to sign Danny Trevathan for more than just the obvious reasons. Sure, the former Denver linebacker will give Green Bay’s front seven an immediate boost, but Chicago also took an appealing option away from Packers GM Ted Thompson. it also helps that the 26-year-old has experience playing in John Fox’s defense, so there won’t be much of a learning curve for him as he joins a new team.
  • It’s not clear why the Lions had linebacker Tahir Whitehead in the doghouse for part of last season, but the team showed its support with its checkbook by re-signing him to a two-year, $9MM deal this offseason, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. When Stephen Tulloch went down with a knee injury early in 2014, the Temple product was elevated to the starting lineup and wound up finishing second on the team in tackles. In 2015, however, Whitehead took a backseat to Tulloch in the first half of the season but he started the final eight games and looked strong. Last year, he started nine of his 16 games, recording 47 total tackles, 1 sack, six pass deflections, and one interception. This year, Birkett can envision him clearing 100 tackles.
  • On Tuesday, we learned that the Packers were one of six teams to meet with Supplemental Draft prospect Rashaun Simonise.
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