Bears Fans Aren't Going To Love the Projected Safety Swap in Latest PFF Projection

The Bears have a lot to navigate at the safety position this offseason. All five of the safeties on their roster this season are slated to hit free agency, and they need to decide which ones, if any, they want to bring back.

While starters Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker, who are both coming off great seasons, would be easy re-sign candidates if money weren't an issue, the Bears unfortunately don't live in that world right now. They're currently $5.3 million above the cap and will need to create some wiggle room over the next month to bring back anyone.

Byard, specifically, is someone that Ryan Poles said they would like to stick around. That's no surprise, as he's coming off an All-Pro campaign in which he led the league with seven interceptions. Factoring in his impact on the locker room as a vocal defensive leader, the decision becomes very easy. It really should be the top priority entering the offseason.

With that in mind, fans aren't going to like PFF's latest projection regarding the best landing spots for free agent safeties. They named the Bengals as being the best fit for Byard due to defensive coordinator Al Golden's affinity for cover 1.

That's honestly a great call, as anyone who watched Notre Dame during Golden's time there (he was their defensive coordinator from 2022-2024) can attest to just how important safety Xavier Watts was to their defense on the back end. In fact, he led the conference in interceptions twice in '23 and '24. It feels safe to assume Golden thinks Byard could assume that role for his defense.

Conversely, the Bears were named the best landing spot for Jabrill Peppers. Now, I don't mean to be disrespectful to Peppers. He was playing some of the best football of his (NFL) career a few years ago with the Patriots. However, there's no sugarcoating it; that swap wouldn't inspire a ton of confidence.

Peppers is coming off a season in which he played twice as many snaps on special teams (206) as he did on the defensive side of the ball (100). That was also on a Steelers' defense that certainly could've used some help if he were able to provide it. They let up the fourth-most passing yards and seventh-most total yards in the league. Nevertheless, he still couldn't crack the lineup and was a reason why they felt urged to move Jalen Ramsey to safety full-time this season.

Now, I will say that the Bears could've used some of the versatility Peppers showed on the defensive (and offensive, to his credit) side of the ball when he became a Heisman Trophy finalist with the Michigan Wolverines. They could use some help at corner, linebacker, and safety (!!), after all.

Jabrill Peppers (@UMichFootball) played 55 def snaps, 4 off snaps. Lined up as CB, LB, nickelback, S on def, wildcat QB, RB, WR on off pic.twitter.com/gVGRqc2djM
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) November 6, 2016

With that said, it's not 2016 anymore. I'm not sure Peppers has that type of stamina in him these days.

All jokes aside, I wouldn't mind signing Peppers to a prove-it deal to potentially back up Kyler Gordon in the slot. The nickelback position is the role where he thrived most in New England, and he would make a lot of sense as a cheap C.J. Gardner-Johnson replacement. Now that would be an ideal fit.

However, I don't think he should be counted on to start at either safety spot (which is seemingly what PFF is projecting). In fact, I'd go as far as to say it could be a recipe for disaster.

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