Available Safety List Keeps Growing for Bears
The Bears released safety Eddie Jackson early in the offseason to give him a chance for a head start on the marketplace to find a new playing home.
To get a give him a good head start on a herd this size, they might have needed to release him in December.
The free agent market for safeties keeps growing by the day and it's good news for teams like the Bears, who need another starter and could opt for free agency help rather than the draft.
It's obviously not good news for the safeties, who could have their salary demands driven sharply lower, much like running backs have seen happen in recent years.
With five picks left for this year now after the Bears traded for center/guard Ryan Bates, and with the number of free agents available, it might be a better approach to sign a free agent instead of using a draft pick.
The Broncos releasing 30-year-old Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons is a comparable move to the Bears' cutting Jackson. Except Simmons was a Pro Bowl player this past season. Jackson would have likely made it in 2022 if not for a late season-ending injury. He made it twice, just as Simmons has.
The list of safeties available is full of different types, like classic strong safeties Kyle Dugger and Jamal Adams, or deep safeties like Jackson, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Xavier McKinney and Julian Blackmon.
If the Bears wanted a safety familiar with their defensive scheme, Blackmon played in the defense at Indianapolis when Matt Eberflus was the defensive coordinator.
The list is much bigger because Simmons, Jackson, Kevin Byard, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Quandre Diggs, Rashawn Jenkins, Tracy Walker and Adams were all cut for cap purposes and added to an already long list.
The list includes players who were scheduled for free agency and have been rising fast, like Baltimore's Geno Stone after he made seven of his career-high eight interceptions last year.
Is it better to ignore older safety options and focus on younger players? Tashaun Gipson left the Bears as a free agent after the 2021 season at the age of 31 and made six interceptions while starting every single game the last two years for the 49ers.
So it's never a good idea to count out an older safety signing and starting. Gipson is available again as free agency approaches.
So it wouldn't even be out of the question for the Bears to bring back Jackson after he was cut for cap purposes. He had earned $46.4 million of a possible $58.4 million on his contract. Would Jackson back at a far lower rate following two seasons with foot injury issues be preferable to most other safeties in the market?
More than likely the Bears will be pursuing more speed and hitting ability, like in a young or drafted player.
Safeties usually get neglected in the draft like running backs and can often be found in Rounds 2 or later.
The Bears drafted Jaquan Brisker in Round 2 in 2022.
Top Free Agent Safeties
- Xavier McKinney
- Kyle Dugger
- Justin Simmons*
- Kamren Curl
- Eddie Jackson*
- Kevin Byard*
- Julian Blackmon
- Geno Stone
- Micah Hyde*
- Jordan Poyer*
- C.J. Gardner-Johnson*
- Quandre Diggs*
- Jamal Adams*
- Darnell Savage
- Jeremy Chinn
- Rayshawn Jenkins*
- Jordan Whitehead
- Tracy Walker*
- Jordan Fuller
- Chuck Clark
- Jayron Kearse
- Eric Murray
- Mike Edwards
- Tashaun Gipson
- Jalen Mills*
- Deshon Elliott
*Cap cut victims
