Why Vonn Bell Checks All Boxes at Safety for Bears

Bears general manager Ryan Pace faces a real dilemma in the secondary as free agency approaches.

Because of the contracts paid to Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller, he has limited resources to bring in a safety to replace free agent Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and cornerback Prince Amukamara, who was cut for cap purposes.

He got away with a $3.25 million, one-year deal for safety Clinton-Dix last year and then signed safety Jackson to a $58.4 million deal.

Considering they already are paying $11.5 million this year for Fuller, the amount of money available for free agency solutions is fairly small.

It's easier to come up with a starter at cornerback in the second round of the draft than later, and Jackson himself is evidence the Bears could find a safety in the fourth round or later. Nothing is guaranteed in the draft, though, so Pace may need to bring in some more veteran help in case rookies failed to develop.

The cost for veteran help at cornerback is very expensive, so the higher the draft pick at this spot the better to keep costs down.

At safety, they were patient last year in a similar predicament and came up with Clinton-Dix. This year they may not be able to be so patient because the free agent talent pool isn't what it was in 2019.

So the best solution might be a second-round cornerback pick and a veteran safety.

Several free agent safeties could be a fit for what the Bears want to do at the position and one in particular might look ideal because of past ties to Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. That's Colts safety Clayton Geathers. Before going any further on him, it's safe to cross him off the list.

Even though he's a physical safety and could work well teamed with Eddie Jackson, he has had three concussions since 2016 and several other injuries that cost him time and would be too great a health risk. The Bears just dumped a wide receiver who had concussion problems, Taylor Gabriel. Taking on a physical safety who has these issues isn't advisable.

Pursuing Jimmy Ward of the 49ers would be expensive, but his versatility and tackling ability would make for a good fit alongside Jackson. It's likely he'll get more money elsewhere than the Bears could afford and why would he want to leave an NFC champion defense, anyway?

Raiders physical safety Karl Joseph is another option but Spotrac.com attached a $6 million a year market value to him. It's possible it's more than the Bears want to pay at the position if they draft someone who could play it.

The ideal candidate could be Saints safety Vonn Bell, provided he is willing to leave New Orleans.

Bell is a solid tackler who could be strong in run support but also get back into the secondary and cover, much the way the Bears used Adrian Amos. Bell might not command the bigger deal like Ward would after barely climbing past $1 million in cap hit last year with New Orleans.

Bell is young enough at 25 to fit into plans for years to come.

His cost may not be more than some other safeties because he's made only one career interception, but he did have an NFL high five fumble recoveries and has been over 80 tackles in all four of his seasons.

The Saints want to bring Bell back, unlike when they had Kenny Vaccaro at safety and let him go to Tennessee. However, the Saints are $12 million under the cap and it could be difficult considering they have to try to retain defensive tackle David Onyemata and linebacker A.J. Klein, while also getting a new contract to quarterback Drew Brees.

Besides that, Bell just fired his agent Chad Speck and hired David Canter of DEC Management, a more renowned company. It could lead to bigger demands and less chance the Saints could keep him.

Bell has looked like a good fit for the Bears defense since the end of the 2019 season and looks no worse at this point.

The problem for the Bears is other teams might feel the same way about him and could have more available cap space.

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