Chicago Bears: Finding a market for HaHa Clinton-Dix

What type of contract would HaHa Clinton-Dix expect to see on an open market this year?

When HaHa Clinton-Dix signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears, it was in hopes of proving himself and signing a longer extension the following offseason. Of course, we know that the Bears did not hit the same heights as the year before, and while most of that was offensive struggles, the defense had issues as well.

Now, Clinton-Dix is set to enter the market again. However, more than any other player, it is fair to wonder what the value is for Clinton-Dix. After looking into similar players to Leonard Floyd and Danny Trevathan, it was easy to see what type of market these players could expect to see.

Safety is a tougher situation to navigate as the market goes up and down. However, these players can be compared for a variety of reasons.

Kareem Jackson is older than Clinton-Dix, but his production and versatility has been better. He signed a three-year, $33 million deal this offseason. Rodney McLeod is a free agent but was making $7 million in average annual salary. Clinton-Dix will want to pay attention to McLeod and his deal this offseason.

Jordan Poyer signed a four-year, $13 million deal and is in the last year of his contract. Quandre Diggs signed a three-year, $18 million contract in 2018 but was already traded for the Detroit Lions to clear cap space. Lastly is Tre Boston, who signed one-year deals in back to back years after not seeing much of a market in either offseason. He signed a $2.2 million deal and will be a free agent again. Boston is a cautionary situation for Clinton-Dix.

Still, the overall consensus is that the safety market is all over the place. $11, $7, $6, $3, and $2 million are the ranges of these players, who signed in different spots with different teams in different situations.

How did they stack up on the field? These are their per-game stats from the last two seasons combined. It gives us a better sample, but factors in recent play the most.

From this, you can see Clinton-Dix looks favorable, not only in tackles but fumbles and interceptions as well.

Below, we look at the advanced stats from each of these players to see if there is more to tell.

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This adds a little more context, but Clinton-Dix does not stand out. He is clumped right in the middle with all of these names.

With that in mind, the question is, where does his value sit? He is not going to get the $11 million per year that Jackson got, mainly because Jackson can also play the slot in a pinch. Clinton-Dix does not have that man coverage ability.

McLeod got seven million per year and has a similar statistical profile to Clinton-Dix. Unfortunately, it does not appear that McLeod will be seeing a bigger deal this time around. Considering his skill set, and the players we have compared him to, Clinton-Dix is going to be in the $2-$6 million range.

The other issue is the number of names available. When looking at the safety Devin McCourty, Jimmie Ward, and Anthony Harris enter a market after strong years and runs to the playoffs. Other names include Tavon Wilson, Karl Joseph, and Damarious Randall. All of these players are younger than any of the ones we have previously mentioned.

Considering the fluctuation of the safety market, the fact that Boston and McLeod join Clinton-Dix on a crowded market, and the list of teams who need safety, it is safe to say that Clinton-Dix is unlikely to cash in again this offseason.

After signing what he thought was a team-friendly deal at one-year, $3 million is going to be right back in the neighborhood of a deal he will be asked to sign again this year.

If he were to be willing to sign the same deal, do the fans who are ready for him to move on due to fit more willing to keep him because he is a cheap asset? They can add more safety depth and an in the box player as well considering how cheap Clinton-Dix could be brought back for. It makes the debate more interesting, as he is unlikely to cash in.