Why Bears Signing Safety Eric Berry Couldn't Work
When word came out via NFL Network's Mike Garafolo about Eric Berry's plans to return to the NFL, a possible pairing might have seemed putting the veteran safety in the Chicago Bears' defensive backfield alongside safety Eddie Jackson.
It's the last thing they need. In fact, they'd be better off bringing back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and they shouldn't do this, either.
Clinton-Dix is a free agent now after a one-season, prove-it contract for $3.25 million. Being up against the cap, the Bears have no need to absorb another big safety contract after they just signed Jackson to a $58.4 million contract.
They didn't get a bad season from Clinton-Dix. He had two interceptions, five pass breakups, and 78 tackles as the Bears had him play back mostly a deep position. When they needed safety run support, they put Eddie Jackson up in the box for the tough work.
Jackson isn't the guy the Bears need in the box making run stops. His strength isn't tackling, it's hawking the ball. That's why he had six interceptions in 2018 and has five career defensive touchdown returns. Jackson missed on 15.5% of his tackle attempts last season and 17.7% in 2018 according to Sportradar statistics, the NFL's official stat partner.
Playing Jackson near the line against running attacks is like hiring Monet to come paint the outside of your house. They're not quite playing to his strength.
The Bears use a scheme with two versatile safeties, not one classic in-the-box strong safety and a free safety. But having one safety capable of being more physical than the other is a benefit. It's what they had when Adrian Amos played in the secondary with Jackson.
Amos couldn't make a play on the ball if it was put in his hands with the Bears, but he had great closing speed and was the best tackler in their secondary. He missed only 9.9% of his tackle attempts in 2018 in Chicago.
So all said, it would seem Berry is an ideal fit with the Bears as a five-time Pro Bowl safety and three-time All-Pro who can make plays near the line of scrimmage in a classic strong-safety role, or play in coverage if needed.
Berry does have 14 career interceptions and he also knows Bears coach Matt Nagy well from their days together in Kansas City.
The problem with Berry is his health. He just missed the 2019 season for a heel problem. He went out in Week 1 of the 2017 season with a torn Achilles' tendon. He overcame Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2014.
Berry has played more than five games in a season only in half of his 10 years since coming into the league in 2010.
As Bears GM Ryan Pace said, availability matters in the NFL. Berry hasn't been available often, and definitely through no fault of his own. Yet, the Chiefs had to eat almost $15 million of dead cap money in 2019 and in 2020 from Berry's contract when they cut him. That's a lot of money to digest, more than most teams could.
Berry's acquisition would benefit the Bears only if he came in at a veteran's minimum salary. Even a one-year, prove-it deal like Clinton-Dix had would be too much because the big contract they gave to Jackson makes it too much money being spent on one position.
They have other options. One might be signing their own free agent, backup safety Deon Bush.
Bush has been around four years. He received good grades of 81.9 in 2018 and 76.6 in 2018 from Pro Football Focus, although he played less than 15% of the snaps.
A young player in the draft along with Bush makes more economic sense.
So far, they've had interviews in all-star practices with SMU's Rodney Clemons and Auburn's Jeremiah Dinson at the East-West Shrine Game and with Maryland's Antoine Brooks at the Senior Bowl. These are all potential mid-round or later picks, and GM Ryan Pace has a reputation for finding safeties in later rounds. He did it with Jackson, with Adrian Amos, with Bush and with DeAndre Houston-Carson.
One more expensive free agent who often has been unavailable is the last thing the Bears need at a position where they would be better off adding young talent capable of learning in a secondary with an effective safety like Jackson.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
