The Chicago Bears will sign slot corner Buster Skrine, almost certainly sealing the fate of Bryce Callahan to sign elsewhere.
After what has been a very quiet offseason so far for the Chicago Bears, they have finally started making some news.
It was wondered all offseason if the Bears would be signing Bryce Callahan or Adrian Amos to return to their defense. Things seemed slim that Amos would be back, especially after the safety market started receiving massive contracts, but there was still confidence that Callahan would return, but those hopes have been dashed.
The Chicago Bears have signed their first free agent of the offseason.
#Bears are signing former #Jets CB Buster Skrine, sources tell me and @PSchrags. Surely means Bryce Callahan is gone from Chicago.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 11, 2019
It’s a 3-year deal worth $16.5M with $8.5M guaranteed, source said. https://t.co/l6eCOqpWhm
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2019
Skrine’s contract is guaranteed for basically 2 of the years of the deal. The Bears could get out of it after one season if Skrine is a disaster, but most likely he will be in Chicago for at least two seasons.
With the Bears offering Skrine $5.5 million per season, clearly they think Callahan is going to receive substantially more than that or with Callahan’s mounting injuries they just simply don’t expect him to continue to perform at that level.
Skrine received high praise from Matt Nagy via Adam Jahns:
#Bears coach Matt Nagy in October on nickel back Buster Skrine, who is now expected to be signed: "He’s one of the better nickels in this league, if not the best. I mean, he’s good. He’s a good nickel in there."
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) March 11, 2019
The Bears are not going to be able to retain all their players. They simply have too much talent that needs to be paid, but with Bryce Callahan all but gone and Adrian Amos probably next (and perhaps even Aaron Lynch), the Bears could be receiving as many as 3 comp picks in 2020 for their free agent losses.
Those comp picks come in the middle rounds where Ryan Pace has been as good as any GM in the league in terms of his success in those rounds.
The Bears offseason is just beginning, and with Skrine now on the roster in place of Callahan, it certainly looks like the Bears are on their way to having some new faces roaming Halas Hall this fall.