The Chicago Bears have found their replacement for Adrian Amos.
The Chicago Bears knew it was going to be a long shot to keep Adrian Amos. They made their best offer prior to free agency, but Amos wasn’t interested and left via free agency to join the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears only had Deon Bush on the roster as a possible replacement for Amos, so it was a near certainty that Ryan Pace would be looking for a veteran to fill Amos’ shoes.
That veteran is no laughing matter.
The #Bears are signing S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to a 1-year deal, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. Formerly of the #Redskins and #Packers, he gets a new home in Chicago.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2019
The puns write themselves with Clinton-Dix but more importantly the Bears got themselves a safety that will fit into Chuck Pagano’s defense nicely.
HCD and Amos are very different players. Amos is a run stuffer who is mediocre in coverage, while HCD is better in coverage but not as strong against the run.
Amos is a reliable guy that doesn’t take a lot of risks, which is why he makes tackles and doesn’t do much that is spectacular. Chuck Pagano runs an aggressive defense that likes to take chances. HCD will fit more into Pagano’s mindset in terms of trying to cause turnovers and create game-changing plays.
One huge difference is price. Amos signed a 4-year, $37 million deal with the Packers with an AAV (Average Annual Value) of $9.25 million. Dix’s terms are much less.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix gets $3.5 million on his one-year deal from the #Bears, source says. He had more on the table elsewhere but it sounds like he wanted to join that Chicago defense and be reunited with his Alabama teammate Eddie Jackson.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 14, 2019
You can’t argue the value that Pace found here. HCD at $3.5 million is a great value. And based on the tweet from Garafolo, he had better offers (most likely from Washington) and chose to play in Chicago with former collegiate teammate Eddie Jackson.
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It’s been a long time since we’ve heard that someone took less money to come to Chicago to play for the Bears. That’s something that doesn’t happen when your team is stacking up losing records. But the Bears are building something special, and the rest of the league is starting to take notice.
Pace still has some holes to fill. The Bears are looking to add another cornerback they need more help at running back, they need another edge defender and they don’t have any of the three key special teams spots.
Obviously some of those can be addressed in the draft, but not all, so Pace still has more work to do.
The Bears have their starting safety tandem as the Bears continue to fill out the rest of the Bears’ roster in free agency. Stay tuned, there is certainly more to come very soon.