Heading into free agency next month, the Chicago Bears are hoping to bring back a few key members from their secondary. Kevin Byard III, Jaquan Brisker, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Nick McCloud, Nahshon Wright, Jonathan Owens, Jaylon Jones, and Elijah Hicks are all set to hit the open market when NFL free agency begins next month.
In a perfect world, the Bears would love to bring back most of these guys, especially Wright and Gardner-Johnson, who were lottery tickets that paid off in huge ways this season. But we know that won’t be possible.
Therefore, the Bears should be prepared to explore all avenues this offseason, which includes taking a chance on a veteran safety that’s ready to hit the gridiron again. On Monday, former Los Angeles Chargers safety Nasir Adderley announced on Monday that he intends to unretire and return to the NFL.
Bears Should Keep Tabs on Veteran Safety Nasir Adderley Ahead of Free Agency
Chicago fans have already seen what happens when defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach Al Harris works his magic on a team's former cast-offs, so it'd be interesting to see if he could do the same with Adderley.
The now 28-year-old Adderley last played in the NFL in 2022 with the Chargers. Adderley was taken in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft by Los Angeles.
Outside of his rookie season in 2019, when he only played in four games due to injury, Adderley was a full-time starter for the next three seasons with the Chargers. In his last year with LA, the former second-round pick had 62 combined tackles, four pass deflections, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a tackle for loss.
Coincidentally, it was also Adderley’s best season in coverage. The 6-foot, 206-pound defender boasted a stellar 60.5 completion percentage allowed on targets, only gave up a TD, and had an 83.6 passer rating allowed when targeted.
While all those numbers are good and something to lean on, the Bears and other teams have to remember that Adderley hasn’t played in three years. That said, it wouldn’t hurt Chicago to put out a feeler to bring the ex-Charger in for a workout to see if he’s worth signing.
As we previously mentioned, the Bears need to have their backup plans at safety ready to go, especially if they were to lose Byard and/or Brisker.
If that were to happen, the hope would be to re-sign Gardner-Johnson, so he could jump into the starting lineup after playing well in his short time with the Bears. However, Chicago would still need some depth to play behind those guys, just in case someone were to get hurt.
If Adderley is anywhere close to the guy we saw in 2022, that could allow defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to do different things within his scheme. We saw what Gardner-Johnson was able to do as he brought a spark, not even playing at safety, but just being a playmaker.
Bears fans should be keeping a close eye on Adderley and how the next few weeks go for him with free agency on the horizon.