The Chicago Bears will have a new-look safety room next season following the departures of starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, as well as reserve Jonathan Owens. Former seventh-round pick Elijah Hicks will be the lone returning safety in a room that also features prized free-agent signing Coby Bryant.
During the pre-free agency process, general manager Ryan Poles made it clear that he’d like to bring back Byard, who just had one of the best seasons of his career in Year 10. Brisker’s departure didn’t come as a surprise, after Poles failed to single him out, but Byard felt like a sure-fire return.
Instead, Chicago went out and landed Bryant, who’s fresh off a Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks. Bryant, 26, is a ballhawk who plays fast and physical and has the potential to really thrive in Dennis Allen’s defense. So while losing Byard was tough, the Bears are excited to see what Bryant can do.
“That’s what makes this part of this difficult,” Poles said. “You have certain plans; there’s guys that you would like to have back and kind of seeing how the landscape set up and you do your research. When we watched Coby’s tape he was a guy that got us excited. Because again, he played our style of ball, he played fast, he played physically. Those are the things that (Dennis Allen) is looking for, that we’re looking for. We thought there was leadership there. He’s young and we had to adapt to that and we had the opportunity to bring a really good player in and that’s the decision that we made.”
Now, the Bears still have a starting job to fill opposite Bryant, which will come in the 2026 NFL Draft. Chicago has four selections in the Top 89, including a pair of second rounders after trading receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills. There are some intriguing safety prospects in this draft class who should be available when the Bears pick, including Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Dillon Thieneman and A.J. Haulcy.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears GM Ryan Poles sounds off on not re-signing Kevin Byard
Reporting by Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
