Chicago Bears: 3 Must-target safeties in second waive of free agency
We are less than a week away from the 2020 NFL Draft. Teams are starting to designate post-June 1 cuts, but these three safeties should be considered by the Chicago Bears now.
The Chicago Bears are in need of a new starting safety opposite Eddie Jackson. I am not sold on Deon Bush being that guy all season. He has filled in nicely in short periods of time, but I am not ready to count on him for a full season.
Last year, the Bears brought in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on a very team-friendly deal. Clinton-Dix played well in his one-year stint. Clinton-Dix was targeted 44 times last season. He only allowed 59.1 percent of those passes to be completed. He was very underrated and I hoped he would be back again this year — especially after seeing the contract he signed in Dallas.
On top of the great production he saw stopping passes, he also grabbed two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. It should be noted that Clinton-Dix has only allowed three touchdowns in the last two years. I just do not understand why people find him to be a “bad” safety in the NFL. Just ask any Packers fan last offseason about how bad Clinton-Dix is, yet he had a better season than Adrian Amos last year.
Clinton-Dix allowed a passer rating of 67.0 while being targeted in 2019. Amos let up a passer rating of 85.5 and over 70 percent completion of the passes that went in his direction. Even their tackle numbers were nearly identical. The only spot Amos saw better was production was in his missed tackle rate. I know that is the knock on Clinton-Dix, but his missed tackles were not bad enough to be considered a liability.
Now the Chicago Bears need to find that type of production again, while also allowing Eddie Jackson the ability to play more free safety. That was the problem with having both Jackson and Clinton-Dix last year. The team needs a more, in-the-box safety, but also one that can play well in coverage since many teams, including the Bears, run split-safety coverages. Here are three veteran safeties that should not cost much, but can still make an impact in 2020.