The Chicago Bears are bringing back a friendly face. It was officially announced that DeAndre Houston-Carson will be coming back on a one-year deal.
The Chicago Bears have some solid depth at the safety position now, but do they have a starter to play next to Eddie Jackson? Some believe it might be Deon Bush. However, with recent meetings taking place with second-round safety prospects, it seems Ryan Pace may be looking to draft a safety in the highest round he’s ever taken one since becoming the personnel decision maker for the Bears.
With the ink now dry on DeAndre Houston-Carson‘s one-year deal, maybe Deon Bush is going to find himself in the starting role? It was announced about a week ago that the Chicago Bears have agreed to terms bringing back Houston-Carson. However, with the landscape of the offseason becoming something we have never seen before due to social distancing and the COVID-19 virus, until the contract is signed, the agreement is somewhat meaningless.
The Bears or Houston-Carson could have reneged on the original agreement and gone elsewhere. As some agreements have been made with teams, until the contracts are signed, teams could look to go back on the deals and use draft picks instead. I would hope that many agents are finding a way for all of their agreements to be officially finalized.
Furthermore, with Houston-Carson officially coming back, the team is likely going to only add one more safety to the roster. As of now the team has five safeties under contract for 2020. Bush is the most talented. Duke Shelley is not someone I would want to count on as the starter all year but he is probably the second option on the current roster. Houston-Carson is nothing more than a special teams player. He played on 81 percent of the Bears special teams snaps last season.
To round out the safety position, the team has recently acquired Jordan Lucas and Kentrell Brice. Both seem to just be special teams additions, but Brice did start 10 games for the Packers last season. That said, his production was awful, allowing over 70 percent completions and a 155.5 quarterback rating when being targeted.
The team could surprise us with a late addition before the regular season officially starts (whenever that may be), but as of now, this signing looks to lock up the idea that the Chicago Bears will be relying on either a rookie or Bush to start next to Eddie Jackson. My early money would be on a rookie and this also means one of those second-round picks will likely be a safety unless Pace finds a way to move back and acquire a third and/or fourth-round pick.