The Bears are re-signing cornerback Prince Amukamara, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Amukamara will collect $27MM over a three-year term, while roughly $18MM is guaranteed, per Graziano (Twitter links).
Amukamara has long been a starting-caliber NFL cornerback, but teams have thus far been reluctant to commit to the 28-year-old. After beginning his career with the Giants, Amukamara inked a series of successive one-year deals with the Jaguars and Bears in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Once considered an injury risk, Amukamara has dealt with minor ailments over the past two seasons but has appeared in 28 of 32 possible games during that time. Although he hasn’t posted an interception since 2015, Amukamara graded as the No. 41 corner among 141 qualifiers a season ago, per Pro Football Focus. Football Outsiders wasn’t as fond of the former first-round pick’s work, as Amukamara ranked as bottom-10 CB in success rate.
Chicago’s pass defense was a strength in 2017, as the unit ranked 14th in DVOA. As such, the Bears have shown a willingness to bring much of their secondary back for another run. Not only have they re-upped Amukamara, but No. 1 cornerback Kyle Fuller was assigned the transition tag, which could be enough to ward off potential suitors.
Most of the work the Bears have done on the first day of free agency has come on the other side of the ball, however. Chicago has landed wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, plus tight end Trey Burton, in an effort to upgrade quarterback Mitch Trubisky‘s weaponry.
Daaaaaaaaaa Bears
I hope this is a depth move cause they need playmakers on D. Prince ain’t one.
Agree on Amukamara. He’s a solid corner, but he’s not going to get any interceptions. Although there are worse options out there.
It all depends on what the figures are of the deal. Until those are known it’s impossible to judge this deal.
Well sh**. 3 years and $27M……. yikes. That’s $9M per season for a dude who hasn’t had an INT in 3 years. This was my concern this offseason. The Bears have/had AMPLE cap space….. and they’re pissing it all away on questionable players. $14M AAV for Robinson…. who’s coming off a missed season due to an ACL tear…. which isn’t what you want to hear about from a WR. Knees are kind of important to them, haha. Then they VASTLY overpaid for career backup TE Burton, who is now getting more AAV than the guy he was backing up. As of today only Kelce and Reed are getting paid more than Burton at the TE position….. 4th highest if Gronk doesn’t opt out. Now they throw $9M AAV at Amukamara who is a decent CB…. but that’s just it…. decent. Is the going rate for decent CBs $9M? Really? Butler just signed with Tennessee I believe for $12.2 AAV…. I’d rather have seen the Bears cough up the additional $3.2M and get an actual, higher caliber talent if they were willing to shell out $9M for Amukamara.
While everyone is busy praising the moves Pace is making I can’t help but find myself shaking my head. He seems to be blowing money that would’ve been better spent on better players. Him not inking OG Andrew Norwell…. quite possibly the best/safest free agent on the market, speaks volumes. With Long getting injured by stiff breezes the last couple of years and the release of Sitton they are in desperate need of OL help and Norwell was easily the best option out there. Instead they’re signing WRs coming off ACL tears and mediocre CBs to big money…… Pace will be gone after 2018 when the Bears fail to win a maximum of 5 games in 2018 again. Hopefully I’m wrong…… but I doubt it. Robinson, Burton, Gabriel, Amukamara……. Cody fu**ing Parkey don’t exactly get me amped up for the upcoming season. People acting like Robinson is a bona fide #1 WR when HEALTHY is baffling to me. He has 1 1,000+ yard season and only catches about 50% of balls thrown his way. The team’s willingness to throw money at Robinson but not throw it at the much more proven Jeffery just a year ago, to me, is a major sign of ineptness in the Bears front office.
We shall see though. They still have yet to address the OL and the DL/LB holes they created by pretty much releasing everyone at those positions. They need, desperately, OLmen of all types, a DE, and at least 2 LBs yet. And with how much money they’ve pissed away on mediocre players they are likely going to sign uninspiring players at those positions and then hope for the best in the draft….. and if you’ve been a Bear fan for any length of time you know how “well” they are at evaluating and drafting talent. They’re lucky if 1 player from each class pans out into just a good starter…. if that. It’s going to be a long Fall and Winter again this year.
Yea. They desperately need a lot of things. Most teams with 8 wins over a 2 year stretch do…
Is line one of their needs? Absolutely. But Norwell? Come on, man. The guy just became the highest paid guard in NFL history and gets to play for a run-heavy team that went to the conference title game. Given the Bears current state, they’d have needed to go above and beyond the richest contract ever awarded to a guard to have even had a shot at getting him away from Jacksonville.
Looking at what the Bears actually did do today, only a cynic wouldn’t like it. They were desperate for a WR. And they landed the best one available. Did they overpay? Not in my opinion. Hell, of the WRs signed today, he didn’t even get the biggest contract. That honor went to Sammy Watkins, a guy who had 39 catches last year while playing with an MVP caliber QB in a wide-open offense. Think about that when assessing the Robinson deal.
Or you can think about Jeffery if you’d like. You referred to the Bears as inept for not paying him a year ago. In reality, knowing what we know, it would’ve been inept to pay him. In him, you had a guy who hit the open market – and the open market decided he was worth 1 year at $8 million. Damn those stupid Bears for not breaking the bank to keep him!!! A year later, after catching 47.5% of the balls thrown his way (which is a meaningless stat to me, but one you seem to care about), he was given a nearly identical contract to the one the Bears just gave Robinson.
Now, I’m sure you’re thinking the Bears could’ve given him that pillow contract. Unlikely. When a guy requests multiple trades over a two year period, you start to get the hint that he doesn’t want to play for your team. When he sits out half a season with minor injuries, you become more confident he wants out. But when he goes to a different team, tears his rotator cuff in the preseason, and then plays the entire season – well then you friggin know that he had no desire to play for your team. So really – get over Jeffery. He didn’t want to be a Bear. Stuff happens. It isn’t everyone’s dream to play for your hometown team.
But WR wasn’t the only need – they desperately needed pass catchers. In Burton, they think they got one at the tight end position. Time will tell, but most analysts seemed to agree that Burton was the best TE on the market given his age and future projection. Maybe you don’t think that’s worth $8 million, but I’ll make you feel better about it. He’s an improvement over Dion Simms. Signing Burton will allow the Bears to save about $6 million when they cut Simms. So you’re looking at the $8 million AAV. Try looking at it as spending $2 million to improve at position of weakness. It might make you feel better about it.
As for this signing specifically. I also think it’s too much. But does anyone really think Pace is making decisions on the defensive side without checking in with Fangio? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Fangio pushed for this deal.
And as for Butler… he guy got a huge deal to play for a team that went to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Like I said with Norwell, unless there are other connections (a familiar coach, the player’s hometown team, etc) it’s really difficult for a bad team to win a bidding war against a playoff team – as in, the bad team needs to outbid the good team by a lot because if the money is similar, why wouldn’t he go to the team he can with?
Anyway man – calm down. It’s day 2 of FA. More free agents are available. There’s still a draft. So I promise, The Bears will fill more holes between now and then. It just takes more than a day to fix all the problems with a 5-win team.
If you look only at picks, then yes, Amukamara isn’t good. But he’s a solid CB and probably an ideal #2/3. You’re also criticizing Robinson for his production when he had Blake Bortles throwing him the ball. And with Burton, you’re buying on the potential. He’s probably not a Gronk or a Kelce or an Ertz, but he’s athletic and can probably be moved around the formation a lot. Both Robinson and Burton are upgrades on what the Bears had last year and are both young enough to keep developing with Trubisky.
They will be drafting an O lineman with their first pick and I’m guessing a safety or corner next. The moves will compliment each other and no way will Pace be gone after next season. Even if they do struggle, they have the excuse that it’s Nagy’s first year so Pace will get at least 2 more years. Have faith.
Would’ve much rather they gave the $9 mil a year to fuller. He’s younger and better
They have Fuller an $11 million tender.. so Im not sure what you’re going for here.
It will cost more then $9m to sign Fuller