The Chicago Bears posted their best regular season record since 2006. In addition, they also made the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Unfortunately for them, their season ended in heartbreak. Cody Parkey’s game-winning field goal attempt double doinked off the upright and the crossbar, leaving many Bears fans in devastation. Bears fans won’t have to worry about doinks or double doinks anymore. It came out yesterday that Parkey will be released at the beginning of the league year. However, two key defensive pieces are about to hit the free agent market. With only a little over five million in cap room to spend, it will be difficult to convince these guys to re-sign at a discount.
Chicago Bears Free Agency: Two Difficult Decisions To Make
Bryce Callahan
I discussed Bryce Callahan in my last piece about unsung heroes for the Chicago Bears. He’s one of the more underrated players at a position that is becoming increasingly important in today’s NFL. With receivers like Michael Thomas, Adam Thielen, T.Y. Hilton, and Juju Smith-Schuster taking a majority of their snaps out of the slot, teams are going to need guys who can slow down production of these top receivers. Callahan has been a PFF darling. Even though his season was cut short, he finished with a grade of 81.4, which puts him at seventh among cornerbacks. Furthermore, PFF rated him as the second-best free agent cornerback this season.
The knock on Callahan is his durability. He has missed a decent amount of time due to injury, and that could impact his free agency. Teams could be scared away by that injury history, which could allow the Bears to re-sign him to a cheap contract. The Bears could also choose to roll with Sherrick McManis, who filled in very nicely in the slot cornerback role in Callahan’s absence. Bottom line is that whoever gets Callahan this offseason is getting one of the better slot cornerbacks in the NFL.
Adrian Amos
The other big piece the Bears will have to think about re-signing is Adrian Amos. Amos is almost forgotten in the equation of the Bears defense. Amos doesn’t put up the eye-popping interception numbers that his safety counterpart Eddie Jackson does, but he has been one of the most solid reliable safeties in the game. Like Callahan, Amos is another PFF darling. He finished this season with a grade of 82.7, which put him as the eighth-ranked safety. Last season, PFF named Amos to their all-pro team, after being the second highest graded safety behind Harrison Smith.
Amos will be more difficult for the Bears to re-sign, as he will ask for more money than Callahan will. Amos has expressed interest in re-signing, and the Bears have also expressed their interest in bringing Amos back. It will likely be at a discounted price though, as the Bears aren’t working with a lot of money. Moreover, they have to save money for the impending free agencies of Eddie Jackson and Mitchell Trubisky, which could push them away from making a deal.
Last Word on Chicago Bears Free Agency
The Bears have a tough decision as we get closer and closer to free agency. They will decide whether to bring back to key defensive pieces from their playoff team last season. The likelihood is they get at least one of these guys back, but probably not both. This is because of the Bears lack of cap this offseason. It will be interesting to see what general manager Ryan Pace has in store for the Bears this offseason.
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