If the Chicago Bears had to choose one or the other, they should choose to sign Bryce Callahan over Adrian Amos
The Chicago Bears have two tough decisions to make when it comes to Bryce Callahan and Adrian Amos. Given how much they have committed to their defense it would be tough to justify signing both to deals above their market rate.
Still, both could see some enticing offers on the market after starting for the great Chicago Bears defense.
With that in mind, if the Chicago Bears were only to keep one, they should look to keeping Bryce Callahan. Here are the three reasons why.
1. In-house replacement
If the Chicago Bears lose Adrian Amos this offseason, they could find another free agent to replace him for less money. They also could get a cheap depth player and bump Deon Bush up to a starter.
Deon Bush started the Chicago Bears final two regular season games and played the playoff game in place of the injured Eddie Jackson. He did not make the impact plays that Jackson made, but he did his job reasonably well, similar to what you would hear from Adrian Amos.
Bush is entering his fourth year with the team and has been a bit of a project throughout the Ryan Pace run. They may be comfortable moving onto him, and potentially extending him before he even starts next to Jackson on a very team friendly deal.
If the Chicago Bears lose Bryce Callahan, they almost have to go out of house to replace him. Sherrick McManis replaced Callahan this offseason, and while he was fine, he is a career special teamer.
The Bears do not have many resources to draft a better replacement and do not want to pay Callahan as it is. It would be tougher to imagine the slot position getting better while letting Callahan walk, but Bush could take a jump at safety.
2, Money
Bryce Callahan is tougher to replace for the Chicago Bears current roster construction. However, on the open market, Adrian Amos is going to make more money than Bryce Callahan.
On the Rotoworld rankings of every safety free agent Adrian Amos ranks number three behind Landon Collins and Earl Thomas. Teams are going to swing hard for Thomas and Collins, and when they miss they are going to swarm over to Adrian Amos.
A projected yearly salary would be around $10 million per year if not more to maintain Adrian Amos considering where he ranks and what other safeties have been able to get on the market.
For Callahan, he is listed as the ninth cornerback, behind a couple of slot cornerbacks as well. It is fair considering he was a free agent last year on a low round tender and still came back for $2 million.
Callahan outplayed his contract and will get more than $2 million. Will he make more than $10 million on an open market? Not likely, especially considering he is coming off of an injury.
Spotrac has Callahan projected to get around $7 million on the market. That is going to be less than what Amos is getting. To fill a more significant need that seems like the right choice for Chicago.
3. Blitzing
On top of being a tougher player to replace and a cheaper player on the market, Callahan is likely a better scheme fit for Chuck Pagano. The buzzwords around Pagano since his press conference were aggressiveness, attack, and swagger. He wants to blitz more and has been noted for blitzing his defensive backs.
According to Pro Football Focus, Callahan is coming off of an elite pass rushing season. He was charted for 13 combined sacks, hits and hurries. Adrian Amos had thee combined. If Chuck Pagano were to pay for a high-end safety, he would want a player like Landon Collins before Amos. However, Callahan is the type of cornerback Pagano would be attracted to.
With that in mind, the Chicago Bears are much more likely to keep Bryce Callahan than Adrian Amos. He fits the ideology of what the new defensive coordinator wants to do. He also does not have a young player to step in for him on the roster. Add in that he is the cheaper option and the Bears should be looking to Callahan and then seeing if they squeeze Amos in after.