soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Super Bowl 53 shows importance of Bryce Callahan to Bears defense https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2019/02/04/super-bowl-patriots-rams-julian-edelman-chicago-bears-bryce-callahan/ New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was named MVP for his 10 catches and 141 yards, and the Los Angeles Rams didn’t have an answer for him. According to Pro Football Focus, he caught passes against six different defenders in coverage, and 104 of his yards came against the Rams top three cornerbacks. Los Angeles needed someone they could stick on Edelman who could keep up with him one-on-one in man coverage, like Bryce Callahan. (GIF via NFL Game Pass). Callahan led all slot cornerbacks with only 0.69 yards allowed per snap in coverage, according to PFF, and he’s slated to be an unrestricted free agent when the new league year starts in March. Bryce Callahan ranked 2nd-best free agent cornerback by PFF In the Super Bowl, Edelman picked up 93 of his yards from the slot, while Jared Goff completed nine passes for 114 yards to slot. The slot cornerback position has become one of the most valuable positions on defense in the modern NFL, and Callahan was one of the league’s best in 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Yeah, but $$$. Sherrick McManis isn't amazing, but did a fairly good job as nickel when Callahan was hurt and will be much cheaper to retain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topwop1 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 8 minutes ago, TankWilliams said: Yeah, but $$$. Sherrick McManis isn't amazing, but did a fairly good job as nickel when Callahan was hurt and will be much cheaper to retain. Agreed. I like Callahan but if he wants to be paid handsomely then the team may be better off spending those dollars elsewhere. We have to keep in mind that he's missed 12 games in the past 3 seasons. You need to prove you can stay healthy and be on the field when it matters if you want to earn that big contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Personally I believe we'd have an easier time replacing Adrian Amos at SS with Deon Bush, Josh Woods (?), a less expensive vet, or a draftee than we would Callahan. I'd love to keep both but if it comes down to a coin flip I'm hoping it comes up in favor of Callahan. Despite his injuries when healthy he has a unique set of coverage and ball skills that have been obvious since his rookie year and have only improved over time. He's also effective on CB blitzes and can backup Cohen as a PR. McManis and Tolliver are both mentioned as possible replacements but I don't see it. At age 31 McManis is not a long term solution, he's not as good, and if he's starting at Slot CB we lose some of his effectiveness on coverage teams. And IMHO Tolliver simply doesn't show the skills of a Slot CB. Our best hope for him is as a replacement for Amukamara in another year when his cap hit is $10 mil. Whereas Amos, whose the #11 ranked UFA overall, has been nearly 100% healthy and that will play a huge role in his negotiations I believe Pace has a better shot at structuring a solid offer for Callahan using per game roster bonuses he can earn provided he can stay on the field but will push some of his cap hit into 2020 or they simply won't be earned. Of the two I just feel Callahan is more valuable to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I think you are focusing too much on those PFF ratings, and I think we will not resign either Callahan or Amos before the free agency period starts. Amos may make less money than he is demanding when the free agency period starts, according to the rumors, so maybe we will get a deal in place, but I would argue that of the starters on the Bears defense, he's probably the most replaceable among them right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 14 minutes ago, TankWilliams said: Yeah, but $$$. Sherrick McManis isn't amazing, but did a fairly good job as nickel when Callahan was hurt and will be much cheaper to retain. We don't have to retain him. McManis is already signed through 2019. He did a good job of filling in for Callahan for a few games but he was also the guy who Philly attacked for their winning TD. Could Callahan have defended it. Spotrac estimates Callahan's contract value at $28 mil/4 yrs/$7 mil apy. That's half of what Fuller is getting and a less than 80% of what Amukamara is getting so I think that's in the ball park. Just a guess but I'm thinking Amos will be looking for more and if he hits FA he'll get it too and Pace won't match it. We have the cap space to commit to at least one of them and for my money I'd go with Callahan. Really good Slot CBs don't just fall off trees. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike90 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Pace clearly values durability and consistency...that is very much so Amos...never been hurt and never plays too amazingly but also never poorly...I expect Amos will be more important in Pace's eyes...I also think he will be more important in Pagano's eyes...safety play has always a big thing in Baltimore and I expect us to value the position highly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 12 minutes ago, topwop1 said: Agreed. I like Callahan but if he wants to be paid handsomely then the team may be better off spending those dollars elsewhere. We have to keep in mind that he's missed 12 games in the past 3 seasons. You need to prove you can stay healthy and be on the field when it matters if you want to earn that big contract. Which is why I suggested per game roster bonuses. Because he has missed games some of his roster bonus will be accounted for as ULTBE in 2019 which allows us to push that cost into 2020 provided he actually earns it. That, a lower salary, and a fairly good signing bonus can lower is 2019 cap costs significantly yet it still protects us if he does continue to sustain injuries. IMHO someone is gonna gamble on him and pay him and I'd just as soon it be us. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how Pace handles this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 15 minutes ago, TankWilliams said: I think you are focusing too much on those PFF ratings, and I think we will not resign either Callahan or Amos before the free agency period starts. Amos may make less money than he is demanding when the free agency period starts, according to the rumors, so maybe we will get a deal in place, but I would argue that of the starters on the Bears defense, he's probably the most replaceable among them right now. Gotta start somewhere when you make assumptions Tank. GM's pay attention to PFF rankings too and Callahan's game films and his production tend to confirm them. The kid is a better playmaker than Amos and that has value. As it stands those are my assumptions for now and I'll stick with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 1 minute ago, soulman said: Gotta start somewhere when you make assumptions Tank. GM's pay attention to PFF rankings too and Callahan's game films and his production tend to confirm them. The kid is a better playmaker than Amos and that has value. As it stands those are my assumptions for now and I'll stick with them. Well, initial reports are that Amos is determing his value based on his PFF ratings from last year of being the highest or second highest (can't recall which) safety in the NFL. Pace doesn't agree with that value of him, apparently, but we will see how it plays out. I imagine Callahan will get paid, but considering how strapped for cash the Bears are, I doubt we are the ones to give him the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 9 minutes ago, Madmike90 said: Pace clearly values durability and consistency...that is very much so Amos...never been hurt and never plays too amazingly but also never poorly...I expect Amos will be more important in Pace's eyes...I also think he will be more important in Pagano's eyes...safety play has always a big thing in Baltimore and I expect us to value the position highly. Can't disagree at all Mike. But I've taken all that into consideration and it doesn't change my thinking. In a perfect world we'd keep both and that's not impossible provided Pace and Laine can manipulate some added cap space. Right now I'm only assuming they won't and that could easily change once we see whose released and where we stand as we hit FA. It's also possible he'll let both his FA as he did last year with Fuller and Meredith then decided whether or not to match an offer by tagging one of them or making them offers and asking them to give him an opportunity to match or better them. They've done pretty well negotiating so far. It's too soon to say which way it'll go so I'm just putting out my own opinion on how it might be handled and which way I'd go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Best ability is availability. Long, Shaheen and Callahan are good players, but they don't help on the sidelines. Paying Callahan would be same mistake as paying Long was. Bears ruined Long playing him hurt in meaningless seasons and compounding his injuries. Might be why they keep him around. They feel bad. Shaheen needs to stay mostly healthy next two years or I wouldn't resign him either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 PFF rankings have not impressed me. It's not them. Grading every play using combination of objective and subjective data (big time throws?) often without context and turning that into a ranking doesn't always translate well. Buckeye helmet stickers and loafs is a better system. Honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I like Callahan and he is MUCH better than McManis to me. But he has durability issues and will likely get a bigger check in the open market - where he will not be subject to per game bonuses IMO - than what the Bears are likely to offer. I think Pace will make an offer, and agree that Amos is the easier player to replace, but that also likely means the market for Callahan will be stronger too. He knows there are some teams that are in desperate need of a CB and some might think he can play as a boundary corner. I mean, Pace tried to force Cooper into a starting role and Callahan is ten times the player that bum ever was. As for the slot next year, I want to see Toliver step into a boundary spot since I also don't see him as a real NB, and see Amukamara or Fuller kick inside - preferably Amukamara since he is so physical at the LOS. While most NBs are little and shifty, most slot WRs are not that good against press unless they are the big bodied ones (Fitzgerald, Marshall, Colston, etc). With the passrush being so good, Prince might be able to damn near eliminate the smaller slot WRs just because of his physicality, he won't have to stay with them for 4 seconds, just disrupt their timing and force them to adjust the route. If he is against a big WR then he is right where he has been the last several years. Amukamara has seemed to improve his tackling exponentially since he was signed. Granted he was terrible vs the run at first, but he made a lot of solid tackles and showed more aggressiveness than I would have ever expected last year. Plus McManis was pretty decent for his brief stint as a starter. He had a number of blown coverages that thankfully weren't capitalized on and PHI picked on him on the biggest play though. With Amukamara that doesn't happen near as much IMO. I'd be perfectly fine with drafting a CB and plugging him in day one if he was the best player for the job on the team. If that rookie is expected to be the long term boundary CB though after Amukamara is cut or retires (like Rock Ya Sin or Michael Jackson both are man-coverage specialists IIRC), I am looking at Toliver to challenge for the open safety spot. I would love to see two major threats vs the pass back there for the first time in Chicago since Brown and Parrish. Get the five best DBs on the field at the same time, and work with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike90 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 23 minutes ago, soulman said: Can't disagree at all Mike. But I've taken all that into consideration and it doesn't change my thinking. In a perfect world we'd keep both and that's not impossible provided Pace and Laine can manipulate some added cap space. Right now I'm only assuming they won't and that could easily change once we see whose released and where we stand as we hit FA. It's also possible he'll let both his FA as he did last year with Fuller and Meredith then decided whether or not to match an offer by tagging one of them or making them offers and asking them to give him an opportunity to match or better them. They've done pretty well negotiating so far. It's too soon to say which way it'll go so I'm just putting out my own opinion on how it might be handled and which way I'd go. I think and hope they can keep both but if they can't I just can't value Callahan over Amos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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