This past weekend, Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on gun charges, per a report from multiple contributors at the New York Post. On Friday morning, Walker was taken into custody after trying to check a bag that contained a handgun and ammunition.
Arthur Aidala, Walker’s attorney, explained that Walker legally owned the firearm but that it is licensed in Wisconsin, and he didn’t know that he couldn’t travel with the gun to New York. It was actually Walker’s attempt to disclose the contents of the locked gun box in his luggage that led to his arrest.
Walker was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. After an appearance at criminal court, Walker was released on his own recognizance with a return date of March 19. Aidala is confident that the case will be dismissed.
Here are a few other recent rumors from around the NFC North:
- In the Packers’ young receiving corps, pending free agent Romeo Doubs has been perhaps the most consistent contributor in the talented position group. When asked if he would be returning to Green Bay in a recent appearance on the Up & Adams Show, Doubs wanted to make it known that he “would love to be a Green Bay Packer” but that he knows the nature of the business.
- Packers right tackle Zach Tom was unable to finish out the season with his team in the playoffs this year due to a knee injury, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tom tried to get back on the field using a PRP injection, but he didn’t feel he would be able to pass block with it. He’s expected to undergo surgery to repair a partially torn patellar tendon with a recovery timeline of approximately six months.
- Silverstein also reported on the injury to Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, who reportedly suffered a broken fibula and torn ligament in his ankle. The soft tissue injury certainly lengthens any recovery time, but per Silverstein, Wyatt expects to be back in time for training camp.
- Following a surprising late-season run into the playoffs, Bears pending free agent safety Kevin Byard made it known that he “would love to be back” in Chicago on a new deal, according to Bears writer Gabby Hajduk. Byard expressed a desire to “finish what (the Bears) got started this year” as he “wants to be on a team that wants to win.” There’s no doubt Chicago will want to retain Byard, but the question will be if they can afford it. Byard led the NFL in interceptions this year for the second time in his career, earning a third first-team All-Pro selection as a result. Two picks in the two years before this season seemed to indicate a fall off as Byard ventured into his thirties, but he turned back the clock just in time for it to pay off in a big way on his next deal.
The Bears regression train is going to be fun to watch this next year. Turnovers. One score wins. Playing backup QBs six times. None of that will happen again. Plus, aging safety, LBs and both OGs. No RBs… no pass rush. They use their work cut out for them for sure.
I’d expect the Lions to be much better and we will see what Minny does at QB. GB will be right there too.
Bears could very well miss the playoffs in 2026. The NFCN has been one of the best divisions in the NFL for most of the 2020s and that should continue.
Minnesota’s QB decision could very well determine the division. Not because they will be the best team by default, but because it’s the area with the largest swing in the division. They ended strong on the year, despite that, and somehow ended with a winning record. If they get a better QB? On its own, that takes wins away from all three of their opponents.
The Bears and Lions will be very interesting, because they both stand on posited edges of the precipice. The Lions could see the closure of a good window if they slip, and the Bears need to prove that they will be a long term contender. I think Green Bay will be about where they are now. But here’s the question-do all the teams improve? If so, which is possible, the Bears will by default have a lower win total, even if the team itself is still good. The Vikings have the easiest and most obvious path to improvements, so unless they trot out McCarthy again for a second starting season, they’re the first ones to try and answer that question.
They pretty much have to trot out McCarthy. You can’t get rid of your lottery pick QB after one season as a starter -and not even a full one at that.
I agree the Bears had a fluke season in some ways but it’s also obvious they’re building a good young offensive core. They need Odunze to step already though and become a #1. Williams however is showing serious flashes of the player he was at Oklahoma.
It’s also ridiculous to say they don’t have any RBs when they have not just one of the more dynamic RBs in the game coming off of his second 1,000 yard rushing season (and his second out of the past three years) but one of the most dominant rookie RBs in a year full of them. Monangai and Swift are a perfect backfield duo and arguably a strength for the Bears. No way they make the playoffs without those two dominating like they did.
Regarding the Vikings, their offensive line was their biggest problem, yet again. They gave no time for their quarterbacks to go through the progressions, left no time for the receivers to run their routes, and didn’t open enough holes for the running backs. The starters got hit with injuries and the Vikings don’t have much O-Line depth. This needs to be fixed if they are going to get anywhere. Otherwise they’ll continue to have broken quarterbacks, which seems to be the norm around U.S. Bank Stadium.
Good points, on both your and notimportant’s part. I’m really eager to see what next year brings for the NFC North, for all of the teams, on my part.
As a sidenote, every team in the NFC North had a better record than every team in the NFC South (yet, somehow, were .500 when they played head-to-head). The only other time that happened was in 2022, when the last place Washington team finished with an 8-8-1 record over…you guessed it, the NFC South’s division leading Buccaneers. The Lions had the best point differential in the division, and ended up in last place. It’s hard to play in a division where every single team is good. I wouldn’t be comfortable picking any of these teams as a for sure bet as far as win totals go, the margin for error is too small.
(I’m not arguing with your points, for the record, just wanted to add to the discussion).
No, you are right. The division was absolutely a coinflip this year. And it should be next year as well. Any of the four teams (well, probably not the Vikings) could have won the division easily.
I do not expect Green Bay to improve a ton, but you do have to keep that consideration in mind. Remember, their best player on the team got hurt, and they gave up huge leads in the three losses that mattered down the stretch. Plus, having no Tucker Kraft, for the last 2.5 months, who was on pace to be the best TE in the NFL this year, also really really hurt. And Watson didn’t come back before Kraft got hurt. Not to mention Reed being out for 11 games. They never got to fire on all cylinders.
Then with the Lions, their secondary was absolutely wasted by injury last year. Again. LaPorta got hurt as well.
The Bears had some injury issues at CB and LB, but they struck gold with UDFA and street FAs last year. Not likely to happen again.
Green Bay has a lot of question marks. They’re going to lose multiple WRs from a group that still has no #1 and a lot of question marks, need to draft a young RB behind Jacobs, have SERIOUS issues at corner, and need improvements along the offensive line.
The other three teams are pretty set in their offensive core with defined roles and clear #1s. Green Bay is pretty up in the air on both sides of the ball.
They have Golden, who was drafted as a #1, and Watson, who can play as a #1 if they need him to. Matt LaFleur runs a type of offense where everyone can step up on any given day depends on the schemes. So this whole “Green Bay doesn’t have a #1” discussion is totally overrated. They have plenty of weapons to be potent. You might not get consistent Fantasy Football points by drafting Packers receivers, but Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst couldn’t care less about Fantasy Football when they’re trying to win games for real.
I wouldn’t say it’s overrated considering they really needed a #1 in that game they lost.
As a long time Bears-Football fan you make solid points. It’s hard to argue with facts. Take away some of those late comebacks and the Bears record would flip to 7-10 or worse. But that’s football. As far as next season? Just way too early to say. Lots of issues and challenges need to be addressed for not only the Bears, but the entire NFC North. There’s the salary cap, cuts, restructuring, free agency and the draft. Then comes injured players who are recovering and injuries to come down the road. One thing about the NFL is to expect plenty of surprises.
Yup. Agreed. The one thing I’d say is that one score wins tend to revert to .500 over time, and ditto turnovers. The Bears won nine games where they trailed in the final two minutes, and had an obscene turnover margin.
Then, they’re playing a harder schedule this year. They’re going to have to be quite a bit better to get back to the same record next year, and odds say to bet the under.
In New York, you need a permit to carry a pistol. He seems like he followed his travel regulations in how he flew with it by putting it in a checked bag, unloaded, in a locked container, with ammunition stored separately in an official storage box, but it was his possession of the gun without a New York license when he landed that got him in trouble. That’s why Walker was charged.
It’s honestly rather silly that he was charged, especially since this is barely even constructive possession (an unloaded firearm in a locked container, held in a secured luggage bag? Hardly seems like possession to me-I may not be able to even search that without probable cause or consent if I were on the street in an independent scenario) in my opinion, but that’s their law. I suppose they do not respect Wisconsin’s permits with a reciprocity agreement. Someone better versed with New York law could probably educate me on this.
It seems like good judgement to me to field book that instead of arresting him. He thought that he was following the law, and took steps to try and do so. Hopefully the judge at his court date will take that into account when hearing his case.
I seriously doubt this will quell his market in free agency for that reason. If CAR gave a subpart LT 20m plus last year, Walker, who is solidly average, will get 25m plus.
Agreed. This is a very inconsequential off field issue, if it can be considered such to begin with, in my opinion.
Charging him with criminal possession of a firearm is absolutely ridiculous.
I agree. His possession (even in the constructive possession sense) seems tenuous at best to me, from a legal standpoint (but, then again, I’m not a solicitor…much less so in the state of New York, or whatever circuit governs La Guardia or JFK). The law is the law, certainly, and I imagine that this has been challenged before in that jurisdiction, but it feels tenuous at best to me if it were to happen where I am.
I’m not sure how much money Doubs honestly expects to make.
He’s been solid and reliable but he’s gonna be 26 and has only had one season with over 700 receiving yards. A team signing him to a big deal is taking a HUGE risk when they could just draft someone instead.
Green Bay re-signing him would make no sense when they just drafted two WRs last year who have both shown flashes and have Reed and Watson under contract. Better to let him walk and try to develop those guys and maybe another WR you draft this year.
Yeah, I think that he’ll make decent money, but not top of the market. It’s the skill set and offense that can help him out, here. At the end of the day, he’s a proven product who can do enough to be a solid supporting piece, which will get him a contract. As you said, though, the numbers probably won’t reflect a top of the market deal.
Doubs may or not benefit from the market of exclusivity, though, in terms of veteran free agents. All of them are solid #2 types, but with different styles-Pierce is a deep ball extraordinaire, Shaheed is a return/shifty weapon, and Samuel is a beat up but hard running YAC receiver. The likely free agents with the most similarity to Doubs here are Jauan Jennings, in my mind, or Kendrick Bourne. I think that Doubs has a bit more athleticism (and slightly less reliable hands) than either, but they both seem to offer a similar role to Doubs in my mind as possession receivers. If they make the market, how are they valued in relation to Doubs? Does a team just want a reliable complement to a number one? How teams value those two (and the 9ers may not even let Jennings go), both of whom are older, will affect Doubs’ interest. Doubs seems to slot in right there, with the advantage of being younger than the other #2 type possession receivers on the market.
I think he ends up with a solid deal, but nothing shocking. Teams with a #1 already in place could do much worse, but the fact that there are other options at that role will likely preclude a Higgins type contract for a#2. Green Bay could certainly use Doubs, but they also have a backlog of similarly productive receivers that they seem to be just fine playing…plus a first round pick in Golden. It’s hard to see a world where Doubs doesn’t end up elsewhere outside of Green Bay as a complementary piece.