Chicago Bears: Discounted free agent corners who can replace Prince Amukamara

James Bradberry

My first choice if he reaches free agency is James Bradberry. Bradberry was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. My hope is that the Panthers will look to make drastic changes now that they parted ways with Ron Rivera and Luke Kuechly retired. If the Panthers decide to go in a different direction or Bradberry himself decides not to re-sign with the Panthers, he would be an ideal target.

Bradberry is coming off his rookie contract and will want to get paid, but the cornerback market is not the most expensive. My projected market price for Bradberry is a four year, $25 million dollar contract with $18 to $20 million guaranteed. This would be a very similar contract to what Prince Amukamara signed with the Bears in 2018 (three years, $27 million).

This would be $6-$7 million in AAV compared to Amukamara who earned $9 million in AAV. This might seem expensive to some and cheap to others, but it seems on point to me. Like Amukamara, Bradberry is not a big turnover guy either. He has eight interceptions over the last four years, but also like Amukamara he’s a solid coverage defender. In his four years with Carolina, he has averaged nearly 12 pass deflections a season.

Bradberry is a bigger corner at 6’1″ and 212lbs. He would fit in nicely in Chuck Pagano’s system opposite of Kyle Fuller.