HEADLINES

Josh Lucas

NFC Notes: Lucas, Bears, Eagles, Cowboys

January 18th, 2015 at 10:44pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Bears have hired Josh Lucas as the team’s new director of player personnel, reports Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. The team has already hired former Saints executive Ryan Pace to be their general manager, and he dipped into the Saints front office to bring Lucas with him.

Lucas was one of the Saints’ top scouts, and was serving as one of the two regional college scouts, working closely with the director of scouting in New Orleans.

Here are some other notes from around the NFC this Championship Weekend:

  • The Bears have hired former Broncos and Panthers coach John Fox to be their new head coach, but the team still needs to find an offensive coordinator. John Mullin of CSNChicago.com believes that job will put whoever takes it in a win-win situation. The reasoning for this is because Mullin believes that a coaching staff has been fired because of Jay Cutler for the last time, and that the next offensive coordinator will either be given credit for turning around Cutler’s career or will be given the opportunity to move on from Cutler with whatever quarterback Pace picks to replace him.
  • Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie needs to look long and hard at the teams that have had playoff success in recent years in order to turn the team into a consistent winner, writes Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. While the Eagles are in the top five in the NFL in winning seasons and playoff berths since he took over the team 21 years ago, they are the only member of that prestigious club never to win the Super Bowl. Brookover wants Lurie to study these final four teams’ strengths and weaknesses, including high level quarterback play and great defense.
  • The Cowboys had a fantastic ground game in 2014, and with running back DeMarco Murray reaching free agency, the team may have to look to replace their star tail back. Jon Machota of DallasNews.com rounds up a few mock drafts to see who the Cowboys could be interested in, and while most chose to select a defensive player, Machota seems to prefer Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com, who pushes the team to select the nation’s leading rusher and Heisman Trophy Finalist Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin.

North Notes: Bears, Greenway, Steelers, Lions

January 18th, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bears hired one Saints executive in Ryan Pace to be their new general manager, and in turn, Pace has brought in another New Orleans employee, hiring area scout Josh Lucas to serve as Chicago’s director of player personnel, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Lucas, a Harvard grad, had worked in the Saints’ scouting department since 2005. Prior to that, Lucas worked with the Jaguars, albeit in marketing. Here are more notes from the North divisions…

  • Set to count $8.8MM against the Vikings’ cap in 2015, linebacker Chad Greenway is a candidate for release this offseason, and as he tells Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, he understands he might not be able to finish his career in the Twin Cities. “If I don’t get signed in Minnesota, then I’m definitely interested in playing somewhere else, if that’s what has to happen,” said Greenway, who indicated he was not amenable to accepting a pay cut.
  • The 2015 offseason will be a critical one for the Steelers as the team looks to get younger, and a trio of Pittsburgh Tribune writers examine the key questions that general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin will have to face in the coming months. Chief among the club’s priorities will be extending quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, both to ensure that he’ll be with Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future, and to lower his $18.4MM 2015 cap hit.
  • In a mailbag for ESPN.com, Michael Rothstein looks ahead to the Lions’ offseason, and wonders if Mark Ingram could be an option at running back in Detroit if the club releases Reggie Bush.