Chicago Bears free agency: Safeties

Isa Abdul-Quddus, 27 

While Adbul-Quddus was listed as a safety, he spent three seasons with the New Orleans Saints and then a season and a half with the Detroit Lions playing on special teams, and not much more.

Then the Lions needed to boost their defensive play. After allowing 30.6 points per game in the first half of the 2015 season, they inserted Abdul-Quddus. With him at safety, the Lions defense gave up just about 20 points per game. He was not the sole reason, of course, but he had a big hand in the improvement.

Abdul-Quddus had 55 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and six passes defended. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 20th-best safety, even though he played in just half the games as the others.

Abdul-Quddus is a speedy player who can cover a lot of ground in coverage. He is also a hard hitter (a hitter that the Chicago Bears are famous for having). His teammate in Detroit, Darius Slay, nicknamed him Smash.com for his ability to lay the wood on someone. “He be smacking fools,” Slay said. “He’s just relentless.”

You might think that signing Abdul-Quddus would be a priority for the Lions, but they also need to bring back defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, offensive lineman Manny Ramirez and defensive end Jason Jones, so Abdul-Quddus may be the odd man out.

After his play, though, Abdul-Quddus may have some suitors contacting him, and not for special teams.

Next: He may already be on the Chicago Bears' radar