Bears: Assessing needs to address in 2020 offseason

2. Cornerback

Currently, on the Bears roster, there are only five cornerbacks that under contract going into 2020: Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Buster Skrine, Duke Shelley, and Kevin Tolliver. However, of the names listed, both Amukamara and Tolliver likely won’t be on the roster in 2020 due to financial implications.

Moving on from Amukamara would allow for the Bears to save $8 million dollars while releasing Tolliver would save the Bears $660,000 dollars. This then presents the Bears with an intriguing problem that needs to be solved.

First, the Bears will need to replace Amukamara but his replacement might just already be on the roster with rookie Duke Shelley just waiting for an opportunity to show that he belongs in the NFL. While some would argue that the veteran Buster Skrine could possibly move outside and start opposite Fuller, Skrine has played in the slot for most of his career.

The best way for the Bears to address the cornerback position in 2020 will be by drafting someone on day three. The projected 2020 free agent class for cornerbacks has some names like Aaron Colvin, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, and Nevin Lawson that could interest the Bears, however, each of those names will likely have a higher price tag than the Bears would be willing to pay.

In what is projected to be a relatively deep draft class at the cornerback position, the Bears will have a variety of interesting players to select from that will allow for defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano to groom into potential starters down the road.