Chicago Bears Offseason Stock Watch: Buster Skrine
Where does the Chicago Bears free agent signing stand on their roster?
The Chicago Bears wanted to break up with Bryce Callahan before Callahan got the chance to let them down. The Bears knew that Callahan not only was going to demand a market, but he also was coming off of an injury. Ryan Pace invested in Callahan as a UDFA, but would not commit money to him.
Instead, he committed a smaller portion to Buster Skrine, making sure that he did not miss his guy while he was waiting for Callahan to mull offers. Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace have talked up Skrine consistently, saying that there is no drop-off, and potentially an upgrade,
Skrine was much less consistent than Callahan last season. However, the argument is that the Bears pass rush would buy Skrine time that he was not afforded with the Jets bottom level unit. In fact, Skrine has hardly had pass rush support his entire career, and has found a way to stick in the NFL.
With that in mind, he is arguably in the best situation of his career. However, the question becomes how long does he stick in that spot. To start, while many say that he was healthy and Callahan was not because Callahan was in a boot, Skrine still has a history of concussions.
On top of that, the team drafted Duke Shelley from Kansas State. This is just a sixth-round pick, but Bryce Callahan was just a UDFA. Shelley flew under the radar with a better 2017 than 2018 and looks impressive in camp.
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Skrine is a replacement but is short term. Look for Shelley to push Skrine this summer.