Over the weekend, we learned that Broncos GM George Paton has been fielding calls from teams inquiring about possible cornerback trades. And that got me thinking about potential Bears fits. After all, you couldn’t find a team with more desperate cornerback needs than the one residing in Chicago.
Days later, a possible fit emerged:
Hearing from multiple sources that Broncos CB Bryce Callahan is a player to monitor for a potential trade, would be a VERY hot commodity if cut
Bears among interested teams
Jets GM Joe Douglas was Chicago's Director of College Scouting in 2015 when Callahan signed as an UDFA
— Brad Spielberger (@PFF_Brad) September 2, 2021
PFF’s Brad Spielberger hears that Bryce Callahan is someone whose status is worth monitoring. Be it by trade or cut, Callahan hitting the market would have teams in need of secondary help jumping at the opportunity to add the top tier slot cornerback. And the Chicago Bears are apparently among the interested parties.
And, if you’ll recall, Callahan had a solid run as the Bears’ top nickel defender in the past.
From 2015-18, Callahan played 45 games (29 starts) and was a baller. He was breaking up and intercepting passes, chipping in as a blitzer, and making life tough for receivers. Chicago allowed Callahan to walk away in free agency after the 2018 season, moving on to Buster Skrine. The Skrine experiment didn’t end well, with the Bears cutting him to clear cap space. And the Bears haven’t found a fill-in for that role in the months that have since passed. Hence, there is reported interest in Callahan.
As you might expect, snagging Callahan won’t be easy.
First, he needs to be made available on the market. Considering how the best defenses have three starting caliber corners, I don’t expect Denver to dump Callahan for nothing. Kyle Fuller, Ronald Darby, and Patrick Surtain II are a solid core of cornerbacks. But there is no such thing as having too many corners when your defense faces Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Derek Carr twice a year. This leaves the Bears needing to navigate trade waters. That figures to be a challenge for a Bears team with limited draft capital worth trading and minimal cap space to work with. Callahan has a base salary of $6.5 million, which is a sizable number to squeeze onto a roster this time of year. Nevertheless, the Bears should still kick the tires here.