Salary cap and market force Chicago Bears to settle on Buster Skrine
The Chicago Bears were going to be outbid for Bryce Callahan, and they settled on Buster Skrine
When the Chicago Bears went out and signed Buster Skrine, it came off as a bit of a surprise. Bryce Callahan was better last season and is the same age. They present similar upside so why bet on Skrine?
Then his salary came out. The Bears gave Buster Skrine a three-year deal for $16.5 million, with $8.5 million guaranteed. It averages out to $5.5 million per year.
In today’s market for slot cornerbacks, that is not a lot of money. Remember Tavon Young just signed a three-year $25.8 million extension for Baltimore. Who is Tavon Young? Exactly.
He is 24 years old and has some good tape in the slot. Despite being smaller and injured last season, he signed a big three-year deal. Bryce Callahan is older than Skrine but has much better tape, and while he was injured, he has missed fewer games than Tavon Young.
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If the Ravens gave that to Young, Callahan is going to break the bank.
Earlier in the day, Landon Collins cashed in, slot cornerback Justin Coleman just cashed in for $9 million per year.
The market is starting to empty, and the need for slot cornerbacks is still around. All of a sudden Callahan could be in line to make $10 million per year on the open market. Logan Ryan, who plays solely in the slot did just that signing a three-year, $30 million deal two years ago.
The Bears are looking at Bryce Callahan and while they understand he is a better player they have to wonder if he is twice as good as Buster Skrine because that is what they would be paying per year. Skrine got $5.5 million per year, Callahan is looking at 10. Skrine saw $8.5 guaranteed, look for Callahan to get closer to $16 million.
At the end of the Bears had to wonder how much of Callahan’s success was on him and how much was on the infrastructure around him, and the evaluation and development of a player similar to him.
The Chicago Bears were likely in on Callahan until it reached a certain point. From there they had to bow out of the race and take a player at half the price.
It will be tough to make the case that they upgraded, but Skrine can fill into a similar extent and the flexibility to add beyond him and around him make his signing much less risky than Bryce Callahan.