Bears general manager Ryan Poles filled a key hole Sunday by signing veteran safety Kevin Byard to a two-year contract just one day before the NFL’s legal tampering window opens on Monday at 11 a.m. C.T.
Byard is a 30-year-old, two-time All-Pro safety who will fill the hole vacated by Eddie Jackson‘s release. Byard gives the Bears a free safety, whose skill set should mesh well with Jaquan Brisker. Byard is better in coverage than Jackson and a much surer tackler. Last season, Byard earned a coverage grade of 70.3, per Pro Football Focus, and only missed 4.7 percent of his tackles. Jackson earned a coverage grade of 60.0 and missed 15.6 percent of his tackles. Byard has also started 121 of 130 career games, which gives him a leg up on Jackson in the availability category.
The signing of Byard checks a key box and sends a message about where Poles believes the Bears are in their rebuilding process, ahead of the probable decision to choose Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Despite a glut of veteran safety on the market, including Justin Simmons, Xavier McKinney, and Quandre Diggs, the Bears offered Byard a two-year, $15 million contract.
If Byard had signed elsewhere, Poles might have allowed the safety market to come to him and gone with options B or C. Instead, the Poles moved quickly to secure a proven veteran safety who should be a significant upgrade over Jackson in 2024 and 2025.
If Poles didn’t believe the Bears were ready to compete this autumn, there’s no need to give a big contract to a soon-to-be 31-year-old safety when the NFL clearly devalues safeties.
Poles would have most likely waited for a value signing at a chosen number two years ago, if not last year. There’s no incentive to act prematurely when realistic contention is still a long way off.
However, the Bears clearly believe it is no longer far off.
This is a squad that went 7-10 last season, punting away three games with double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. They accomplished this with the NFL’s 27th-ranked passing offense and a defense that battled to find its footing early due
The Bears’ defense is young and ascending, with cornerstones at each level in defensive end Montez Sweat, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. They anticipate that third-year cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Brisker will completely develop in 2024, and they are optimistic that cornerback Tyrique Stevenson will make a significant improvement in Year 2.
The Bears think their defense can be elite if they add the necessary pieces through free agency and the draft (edge rusher is a huge need). Having a top-tier defense may be a young quarterback’s best buddy early in his NFL career, and the Bears are indicating that they believe Williams can do for them what C.J. Stroud did for the Houston Texans last season if they treat him properly. Give him a defense that does not expect him to score 35 points a week and two trustworthy receivers under DJ Moore, and the Bears feel they will have all of the elements in place for their contending window to open this fall.
Teams who are currently rebuilding don’t splurge for an experienced safety on the back end.
The Polish rebuilding effort has reached a new phase. That was always going to be the case, whether Justin Fields or Caleb Williams were at quarterback. One alternative simply made the path to contention more likely.
It was remarkable when Wiliams stood on the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine podium and asked if the Bears “wanted to win.”
When the legal negotiation window opens on Monday, we’ll have a better understanding of Poles’ vision for this squad and what he expects of them in 2024.
If the Byard deal is any indication, the Bears believe the time has come, since Williams is set to arrive in April.
