NFC Notes: Matt LaFleur, Carson Wentz, Bears, Packers, Vikings

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Bears Drew Dalman suddenly elected to retire this offseason after just one season as the Bears’ starting center, in only his fifth NFL season. Chicago HC Ben Johnson reflected on Dalman’s decision, saying there was some desire to talk him out of retirement. “I think selfishly, myself, the organization, Ryan (Poles), his teammates – we all want him back,” Johnson said, via CHGO . “He made us better last year. The success we had on offense was really started because of him. There’s naturally that selfish desire – ‘No, no, no, I want to change his mind.’ But that’s not why we do what we do, also. We have to do what’s right for the team and the organization but it’s also really important that his concerns are taken care of. You could tell pretty quickly that he’s a smart guy. This was not a rash decision. I think out of respect to him, I had pretty good confidence this was the direction that was going to go.” Miami C James Brockermeyer will take a 30 visit with the Bears. ( Tom Pelissero ) Packers The Packers signed HC Matt LaFleur to a contract extension after there was some chatter about potentially firing him. Green Bay president Ed Policy highly praised LaFleur’s ability as a teacher and has been impressed with his work with their quarterbacks over the years. “Just drawing on the seven years that I’ve known him, drawing on the process that we went through in bringing him here and my conversations with Mark (former Packers president Mark Murphy), when Mark chose to hire him and then over those seven years … Matt is a teacher. He’s a natural at it. His parents were both teachers,” Policy said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic . “Just watching him develop players as individuals and then, more importantly, develop those individuals into teams over the last seven years, I’ve been very impressed with him in particular at the quarterback position. You guys were all here when he was getting, I’d say, the very best out of Aaron Rodgers, and he did a tremendous job of developing Jordan (Love) and then look what he did with Malik (Willis) over the past couple of years. That, coupled with the locker room supports him, from Jordan to the rest of the locker room. You guys have probably all had a chance to talk to many of those guys. They support him openly and they support him behind closed doors. I think he’s the winningest — you guys can correct me if I’m wrong — in his time in the league as a head coach, I think he’s the winningest NFC coach and I think the third-winningest coach in the NFL in those seven years. Frankly, the fact that I was being asked, is firing him even an option at that point? I was a little bit shocked by that.” Policy said he decided to re-sign LaFleur before their playoff loss to the Bears. “I appreciate it and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Policy said. “I mean, the second half of that Chicago game was very disappointing. We were all extremely frustrated. I know the fans are frustrated, and I wouldn’t want them not to be frustrated. They’re very passionate about our team, about our games and about the outcome of our games. I wouldn’t change that, and I did hear quite a bit of it. I can’t let that factor into these types of decisions. Ultimately, does it impact me? Yes. Do I hear it? Yes. These are not decisions that should necessarily be made by fans after a very disappointing loss.” Vikings Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell fielded several questions at the league owners’ meetings about the re-signing of veteran QB Carson…