Bears

Bears QB Caleb Williams reflected on his second season in the NFL and talked about what he’s learned and how he can apply it to next year.

“You get into these games, you win a bunch of games, you get into these playoff games and you’re winning,” Williams said, via Bears Wire. “You play these good teams and you see what you have to go against. You see what championship level is, you see what you need to do to be at the position that you want to be at the end of the year. You see what you have to do, you figure it out. When you get knocked down, you get back up and that’s what we’re going to do. That’s my mindset. We never stay down as a team. I think we’ve shown that this year, we never stay down. We keep fighting. Bringing that mentality into next year and then finding ways to bring that hunger for all four quarters in every single game is going to be important and something that we’ll focus on throughout the offseason and throughout next year.”

Bears

Bears K Cairo Santos converted 25 of 30 field goal attempts, along with all 39 point after attempts. Chicago ST coordinator Richard Hightower praised Santos for his resilience after entering the season with some question to his viability as a starter.

“The resilience with which he’s able to operate is a reason why you’ve seen him doing this for 12-plus years and staying consistent,” Hightower said, via Dan Weiderer of The Athletic. “You can’t undervalue that guy. And no one here does.”

Santos notably improved in kickoffs, producing six touchbacks at the opposing 20-yard line in the final eight games with kicks initially touching down in the landing zone. He also had seven other kickoffs returned short of the 25-yard line during that span.

“My skill with that type of kick has really been improving,” Santos said. “It’s really difficult to dial that in every time. Because you almost have to mishit the ball but also not have it drop short of the 20. It’s felt to me like I’ve been gaining more control with that type of kick and finding the right times to really be aggressive with it.”

Santos’ success in kickoffs makes him excited to continue refining the skillset this offseason.

“It gets me excited for this offseason, to go and find the consistency with this,” Santos said. “I still think there is a can of worms out there to be discovered with how to lean the ball, with what kind of steps to take, with what angle to approach the ball from. During the season, you don’t get as much opportunity to play with that. So I’m excited to work on that.”

Packers

Rob Demovsky of ESPN takes a look at several roster decisions for the Packers, with Green Bay currently $10.68 million over next season’s salary cap:

Demovsky thinks the most likely outcome for DE Rashan Gary is for him to be released, given that he only played in 58.3 percent of defensive snaps. Releasing Gary would create $10.978 million in cap space, or $19.5 million as a post-June 1 cut.
Demovsky also views OL Elgton Jenkins as a player likely to be released, which would free up $20 million in cap space.
Packers CB Nate Hobbs is another player Demovsky could see being released with injuries impacting his playing time. Releasing him would only free up $1 million in cap space for 2026, while designating him as a post-June 1 cut would create $9 million.
Demovsky writes that G Aaron Banks is a candidate for a contract restructure or paycut. Releasing him would create $5.35 million, while a post-June 1 designation would free up $18.35 million.
As for RB Josh Jacobs, Demovsky thinks he’s a restructure or extension candidate without an heir apparent at running back on the roster. Jacobs’ cap charges surge to $14.6 million in 2026 and $16.6 million in 2027.

The post NFC Notes: Caleb Williams, Cairo Santos, Packers’ Roster Decisions, Bears appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.