Chicago Bears: Projecting costs of keeping Callahan or Amos

The Chicago Bears were able to clear their first big hurdle of the 2019 offseason by re-signing Bobby Massie. Yet there are still two more to go.

The defense was the engine that drove the machine for Chicago last year. Keeping that unit intact as much as possible would be preferable as they set their sights on a deep playoff run this coming season. Nine of the 11 starters are expected back for the team, but two of them sit in limbo with expiring contracts. They are safety Adrian Amos and slot cornerback Bryce Callahan.

These two players arguably had the best seasons of their respective careers in 2018 both from a production and efficiency standpoints. Their time would be considered great in that regard. However, both also come with question marks. This leaves their futures in Chicago up in the air. Will the Bears make a concerted effort to at least keep one of them and if so who?

Here is the breakdown of each player and what their likely price range will be.

Adrian Amos

25-years old
269 tackles
3 interceptions
18 passes defended
3 forced fumbles
2 sacks
Games missed due to injury: 1
Pro Bowls: 0

The name that you’re going to want to keep in mind here is Tony Jefferson. His playing style is very similar to Amos in that he’s a physical safety with good durability who is at his best defending the run and playing around the line of scrimmage. His stats after four years in Arizona were also similar with 220 tackles, two interceptions, six forced fumbles, and five sacks. He also missed only one game due to injury.

This drew interest from the Baltimore Ravens who ended up inking him to a four-year deal worth $34 million. That’s an average of $8.5 million per year. That will likely be the ballpark Amos and his camp will be aiming for.

Bryce Callahan

27-years old
122 tackles
4 interceptions
22 passes defended
1 forced fumble
4 sacks
1 punt return TD
Games missed due to injury: 19
Pro Bowls: 0

For Callahan, the name that jumped out in regards to similarities is Aaron Colvin. A former 4th round pick of the Jaguars, he had good moments during his time there but suffered from frequent injury issues. He missed 16 games total in four seasons and didn’t have an interception. He did have 138 tackles, five sacks, 14 passes defended though.

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That apparently was enough for the Houston Texans who also handed him a four-year contract for $34 million at $8.5 million per year. Keep in mind that Callahan is superior to Colvin in every stat category so it’s likely he’d feel in his rights to demand more than that.

This is a tough scenario for the Bears.

Recent buzz has them at somewhere around $5.4 million in salary cap space. That’s not enough to retain either one of them. They’d have to do some considerable shifting of money around in order to make enough. The problem is where either Amos or Callahan is even worth $8.5 million per year. It’s important to keep this in mind.

Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Harris Jr. also each make $8.75 and $8.5 million per year respectively. Both of those guys are perennial Pro Bowlers. Callahan and Amos aren’t on their levels. This is what the Bears have in the back of their heads. As much as they’d like to keep these two guys whom they groomed from rookies back in 2015, being a good team sometimes means you have to make tough financial decisions. Don’t be surprised if they end up letting both walk.

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