Chicago Bears agree with Buster Skrine, Bryce Callahan likely gone

The Chicago Bears agreed with a starting slot cornerback in Buster Skrine, meaning Bryce Callahan’s time in Chicago is likely over.

With Monday being the start of negotiations for NFL free agents, the Chicago Bears made a couple of moves. After re-signing tight end Ben Braunecker and agreeing with running back Mike Davis, Chicago went out and made a bit more of a statement by agreeing with former New York Jets cornerback Buster Skrine.

Here is the immediate thing you need to know about Skrine: He plays slot cornerback.

First of all, most fans are probably correct in assuming that the signing (which isn’t official until Wednesday afternoon) means that Bryce Callahan is on his way out.

When it comes to the impact on Callahan, I am a bit torn. Callahan was arguably the NFL’s top slot corner over the last two seasons when healthy. But, that’s been the problem with Callahan. He hasn’t always been on the field. I am led to believe that this was one of the main reasons behind the Skrine deal.

As for Skrine, he isn’t an upgrade at the position. That’s the first portion of bad news. The other bad news? He was horrific in coverage last year, garnering an opposing quarterback rating of 124.2.

Skrine has always been awful in coverage, unfortunately. However, when looking at his game a little deeper, he is one of the better slot corners in both run defense and pressuring the quarterback.

My guess is this means Skrine will be used a lot on those corner blitzes, while new defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano hopefully tries to minimize the lone coverage scenarios. The less Skrine is in one-on-one coverage, the better.

Over his 8-year career, Skrine has picked off a total of nine passes while forcing three fumbles, recovering four fumbles and totaling 3.5 sacks.

The numbers don’t speak much about his playmaking ability, but the aggressiveness he plays with is likely why the Bears were intrigued by him in the first place. It is going to be key for this defensive unit to cover up his liability in coverage while allowing him to assist in stopping the run and pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

It’s only Monday, and there are plenty of deals yet to be agreed upon over the remainder of the week. Will Jordan Howard be traded? Will Adrian Amos return? The hot topics remain up in the air. Keep it locked here and we’ll have plenty of news and analysis on future moves this week.