NFC Notes: Coby Bryant, Jayden Reed, Bears, Lions, Packers

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Bears Bears GM Ryan Poles gave his opinion on being able to pair free agent signing Coby Bryant and first-round pick Dillon Theineman at safety. “I think you match up better,” Poles said, via BearsWire.com . “You eliminate, every time, especially our pro staff, when we do an advance on our opponent, we’re looking for targets. We’re looking for guys that we can find mismatches on and expose. So, when you have speed, and you have a lot of guys that can cover in different spots, your ability to hang in there, cover longer while you’re bringing pressure, things like that, enhances the entire defense.” Lions Lions GM Brad Holmes spoke about the team’s desire to return to the playoffs after the disappointment of the 2025 season. “Bottom line is, for our standards, this was a disappointment,” Holmes said, via Colton Pouncy of The Athletic . “If we’re not in the dance and we’re not competing for a championship, it’s a failure. … But before I look at anything, I’m looking at myself. I have to do a better job. Obviously, haven’t been good enough and look, I’m always going to look inwards. That’s probably the only light that may come out of this darkness. When you have these kinds of results, you don’t have a choice. You’re forced to look at everything long and hard and truthful and honestly, all in efforts to improve our football team. I think everybody’s a human being and everybody can feel like, OK, what we’re doing is working, so let’s keep doing that. And then you get hit in the face and it’s like, whoa, maybe it’s not good enough. That was kind of the silver lining. As much as it sucked to end the season how it ended, it might have been what we needed.” Meanwhile, HC Dan Campbell has also remained focused on retaining the team’s gritty identity and players, while having to replace several veterans on the offensive line over the past two seasons. “Let’s make sure that our calling card is what we said,” Campbell said at the league meetings in March. “It’s about grit, and everything starts with grit, and then we’ll work from there. … I just want to make sure that we’re saying what we are, that we believe in what we really are, and it’s not lip service. That’s all…It’s never easy. But what we’re saying is — I’m putting my eggs in the basket of Penei Sewell in that O-line room. He’s the leader. I’m putting my eggs in the basket of Jack Campbell in the linebacker room. Like, it’s time. These guys weren’t just good football players coming out of college that fit us. These guys have leadership qualities. … To me, we may be taking the handcuffs off of some of these guys if you ask me a little bit. It’s time for these guys to grow and take ownership of this. I think it’s actually going to help us in the long run.” Packers The Packers signed WR Jayden Reed to a three-year contract extension worth $50.25 million in new money with $20 million guaranteed, including a $16.5 million signing bonus and a $3.5 million roster bonus, while also containing a $2 million roster bonus due in March 2027, a $1 million roster bonus due in March 2028, $500,000 workout bonuses from 2027 through 2029, per-game roster bonuses from 2027 through 2029, and additional salary escalators tied to performance in 2028 and 2029. ( OTC ) According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN , the Packers searched for a quarterback and showed interest in signing QB Garrett Nussmeier if he went undrafted. Regarding Green Bay’s second-round CB Brandon Cisse , Fowler reports that he was a favorite among d…