Could Chicago Bears still re-sign Bryce Callahan?

Even with the signing of Buster Skrine, could the Bears still retain Bryce Callahan?

When the Chicago Bears signed Buster Skrine early in the free agency process, many people were surprised.

Sure, there was no guarantee that Bryce Callahan would be back after last season. The Bears were limited with their cap space and there was certainly no way they would be able to keep Callahan and Adrian Amos.

Before free agency even officially opened, the Bears inked Skrine to a contract and everyone assumed that he would be playing the nickel back in place of Callahan and that the Bears had moved on.

Let me just say, that very well may be the case. But let’s look a this situation a little closer. First of all, Adrian Amos has left the team and has joined the Green Bay Packers. HaHa Clinton-Dix is replacing Amos at a price of $3.5 million. Amos made $2 million last year, that’s barely a difference.

The Bears still need depth in their secondary. Or do they? What if the plan is that Skrine is their depth?

We are a few days into free agency and Callahan is yet to find a home. In fact, the conversations around Callahan are non-existent right now. Callahan is coming off a broken foot, but he’s had a litany of other injury issues and those are almost certainly pushing down his price.

If Callahan can be had at an affordable price and with the right amount of guaranteed money, they could sign him and move Skrine into a super sub role. What would that entail?

First of all, Skrine could take away some of Callahan’s snaps at the nickel. If Callahan is on the field less, he will be even more effective when he plays and will reduce the risk of injury. Skrine is versatile, he can play both inside and outside, which means you could have him set as the main sub for all three cornerback slots.

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If Skrine is rotating all over the field, the Bears in essence could have 4 CBs taking nearly 100% of the snaps there and assuming there are some injuries in the secondary (there always are), Skrine could end up being on the field basically half the time.

There’s another factor here. 2019 is the last year of guaranteed money for Prince Amukamara. The Bears will have some tough decisions to make as they’ll need to worry about extending Leonard Floyd, Eddie Jackson and Tarik Cohen. It’s highly likely that Amukamara will be released and the Bears will have a hole at cornerback. If that’s the case, and Skrine has proven to play well in this defense, he could slide in as the starting outside CB and replace Amukamara.

Skrine’s versatility could be a huge benefit to Chuck Pagano and the Bears’ defense. But what if Skrine doesn’t eliminate having Callahan come back, he complements Callahan’s return?

There aren’t even whispers around Callahan’s free agency. Are the Bears still talking to him? Odds are they are and it makes a lot of sense to keep him on the roster. The next few days should be very interesting.