Why Bears Should Take a Good Look at Desmond Trufant

One loss the Bears can't sufficiently account for in the draft is cornerback Prince Amukamara.

Cornerback is such a vital position and putting a draft pick, Kevin Toliver and Tre Roberson in a three-way battle for a starting spot isn't likely to produce results like the Bears could have had from Amuakmara.

The decision by the Atlanta Falcons to release Desmond Trufant after failing to find a trade taker is an open opportunity for the Bears to fill the spot with a lockdown-level cornerback. It's also one the Bears may never realize.

Trufant has been a high-level performer for seven seasons with 13 career interceptions.

Pro Football Focus gave Trufant outstanding grades of 82.8 in 2013 and 81.4 in 2014, and he's never achieved those levels again but has been consistent with grades in the 70s in four of the last five seasons.

The 2019 season definitely wasn't one of Trufant's best and he'll turn 30 this season, which may have been a factor in the Falcons' decision.

His passer rating against when targeted declined from 87.6 to 100.9 and he missed on 18.2% of his tackles after missing only 5.7% in 2018 according to numbers from SportRadar.com, the official stat partner of the NFL.

Still, Trufant did make four interceptions last year and that was more than Amukamara made in three years for the Bears.

However, the main reason for Atlanta letting him go was the salary cap hit because he was costing them over $15 million according to Spotrac.com.

Trufant suffered a season-ending injury last year, as well, but it wasn't the type to lead to any long-term concerns. He had a fractured arm and went to the sidelines after playing in just nine games. Prior to the injury Trufant was suffering from some toe-related problems that kept him from playing in four games.

The drawbacks seem small but the decrease in production was a bit alarming. With the Bears in need of experienced help, if they could get Trufant on a short-term prove-it deal then they would be coming out with a net gain at cornerback.

The Bears could even take advantage of the new CBA's higher expected salary cap in future years by signing Trufant to a contract extending his prorated signing bonus into the future.

However, with the Bears 25th in available salary cap space at somewhere close to $15 million depending on Danny Trevathan's yet-to-be-released contract breakdown, and with 10 teams possessing more than $50 million in cap space, the chance of Trufant landing in Chicago would appear slim.

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