It’s easy to look at the Bears’ depth chart, see an obvious opening at safety and slot them to draft one at No. 25 overall on Thursday. That’s usually a pretty good place to pick a safety, too, since the third- or fourth-best player at that position likely still would be available.
General manager Ryan Poles can’t do that, though, after shelling out for former Seahawks safety Coby Bryant on a three-year, $40 million contract in free agency. The Bears have too many needs elsewhere — most notably at left tackle, defensive end and defensive tackle — to make an additional major investment at safety in the first or second round.
Bryant’s contract came with the message, overt or not, that it’s on him to carry the position.
“I wouldn’t say I feel any pressure,” Bryant said Monday as the Bears began their offseason training program. “It’s a blessing to have that role.”
He most likely will be asked to figure out the back end of the Bears’ defense playing alongside a mid-round pick, a player the team hopes can step up from backup to starter or a potential salary-cap-related cut from another team.
The Bears probably won’t, for example, take a first-round talent like Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman or Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
Safety is more of a possibility in the second round at No. 57 or 60 overall Friday, when Arizona’s Treydan Stukes or LSU’s A.J. Hauley could be around, but even at that point, beyond the aforementioned priorities, center or cornerback should outrank safety.
The third round is where teams truly start weighing overall talent regardless of needs, and the Bears could consider safety at No. 89 overall. They also have a fourth-rounder (No. 129) and two seventh-rounders (Nos. 239 and 241).
The most realistic targets at the top of their list are South Carolina’s Jalon Kilgore, Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley, TCU’s Bud Clark and Arizona’s Genesis Smith.
The current options to play alongside Bryant are thin on experience.
The Bears signed former Bills defensive back Cam Lewis because of his versatility, not exclusively as a safety. He has just 14 career starts, played only 38% of the Bills’ snaps last season and was available for a budget-friendly offer of two years, $6 million.
After that, it’s 2022 seventh-rounder Elijah Hicks (15 career starts) or new signing Gervarrius Owens (none).
But that’s a relatively minor problem at safety compared to premium positions like defensive end. The Bears can’t simply stick anyone opposite Montez Sweat and hope for the best, but they can do that with Bryant. It’d be excessive, and detrimental elsewhere, to pay him and spend a high draft pick.
And while this is Bryant’s first big contract, the responsibility is nothing new to him.
Bryant came into the NFL as a fourth-round pick in 2022 and learned under Seahawks three-time Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs. He grew into one of the stars of the elite defense that powered the Seahawks to a championship last season and mentored rookie Nick Emmanwori along the way.
He’ll have to be a leader again this season as the Bears reset the position after letting Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker leave in free agency. They saw in Bryant a player who could produce like Byard, but with more of a future because he’s five years younger at 27.
Whether it’s a draft pick playing beside him or someone who has mostly been a backup like Hicks or Lewis, Bryant has to help get them up to speed simultaneously with his own acclimation.
“I embrace it,” he said. “I’m that type of guy.”
That’s good, because all eyes will be on him more so than they were in Seattle. That defense was full of stars. This one is eagerly awaiting some to emerge.