NEWSLETTER
Bryce Callahan will see some familiar faces when he arrives at his new home.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini reports the former Chicago Bears slot cornerback is signing with the Denver Broncos. And Russini’s ESPN teammate Adam Schefter chimes in with the monetary figures on the deal, which is reported to be a three-year pact worth as much as $21 million and includes $10 million guaranteed. Callahan was a baller for the Bears last year before a broken foot ended his season prematurely. And despite the season-ending injury, he was successfully able to secure the bag. Good for him!
In Denver, Callahan will be reunited with his former defensive coordinator (Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio) and his old position coach (Broncos Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell). You couldn’t draw up a more perfect match if you tried.
The Bears already signed Buster Skrine as Callahan’s replacement, so a reunion simply wasn’t in the cards. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t Bears-related implications. In fact, Callahan’s signing in Denver could net Chicago a much-desired compensatory draft pick in 2020:
As for the Bears, since Callahan should be valued as a 5th rounder, this loss opens up a 4th round 2020 comp pick for Adrian Amos.
Now the question is: will the Bears sign any more compensatory free agents to cancel out that pick again?
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 16, 2019
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams based on a formula based on how many eligible free agents it loses vs. how many it signed. These picks are handed out at the end of Rounds 3-7, which happens to be an area where Bears GM Ryan Pace has been successful (despite not having compensatory picks to lean on). Chicago hasn’t had a compensatory pick since 2009, but it hasn’t really been in a position to net those picks because the team hasn’t had enough players signed away in order to get them in the first place.
And while the Bears aren’t out of the woods yet – after all, they could still sign free agents who could cancel out the pick – at least they’re in a position to where getting one is at least a possibility.
