The NFC North’s cutdown was the lightest in football by volume, and it still moved real penalty history. One team released a former first round tackle with nine flags over two seasons. Another made the fewest moves of any team in the league and landed a veteran tight end anyway.
Chicago
Five cuts, and one carries the division’s heaviest sheet. Jedrick Wills Jr. was released with nine flags across 2023 and 2024, offensive holding and false starts splitting the count. The Bears also traded defensive tackle Gervon Dexter to Atlanta and got cornerback Clark Phillips III back, who brings six defensive holding flags from his 2023 season. Scotty Miller was among the cuts, and linebacker Nephi Sewell goes to injured reserve.
Read the two lines together: out went a lineman flagged nine times, in came a corner flagged six. Chicago did not get less penalized this weekend. It moved the flags from one side of the ball to the other.
Detroit
Five out, two in, and a ledger so quiet it barely registers. Greg Dortch departs with exactly one false start in each of two seasons. Cedrick Wilson Jr. was among the cuts. The concern is the IR column: linebacker Damone Clark and edge Payton Turner both land there. Detroit’s flag profile enters the season unchanged, which for a contender is the point.
Green Bay
Four players cut. That is the smallest cutdown of any team in the league this weekend. The activity was all trades and signings: Jonnu Smith signed, running back Kaleb Johnson in from Pittsburgh with a single face mask on his sheet, tight end Mark Redman in from the Rams, and Kyle McCord traded to Miami. Receiver Savion Williams goes to injured reserve. When a front office only cuts four, it decided its roster months ago.
Minnesota
Six out, and the sharpest line belongs to Dwight McGlothern Jr., waived injured with two pass interference flags for 21 yards from last season. Tackle Walter Rouse was traded to New England with one holding call attached. Tyler Batty goes to injured reserve. Minnesota’s cutdown removed two defensive back flags and one lineman flag and added back a claimed corner, Tre Hawkins III, with nothing recent on his sheet.
| Player | Move | Flags 2023 to 2025 | Signature foul |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jedrick Wills Jr., T | Released, CHI | 9 | Offensive Holding |
| Clark Phillips III, CB | Traded to CHI | 6 | Defensive Holding |
| Dwight McGlothern Jr., CB | Waived-Injury, MIN | 2 | Defensive Pass Interference |
| Greg Dortch, WR | Released, DET | 2 | False Start |
The division that cut the least also carries the least new flag risk into week one. Whether Chicago’s holding-for-holding swap nets out is exactly the kind of question the per-team penalty pages in the app were built to answer.