The Chicago Bears should target these five strong safeties in 2020 NFL free agency so Eddie Jackson can move to his natural spot at free safety.
The fun is inching closer. In a month the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL enter the new year. That also means free agency for the 2020 season begins. The Bears likely make a few signings, though how big the signings will be are still unknown.
One of the areas they need to target is the strong safety spot. Eddie Jackson moved over to that position in 2019 when the Bears signed Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. While Jackson had another Pro Bowl-caliber season, he was nowhere near the beast he was at free safety.
In addition to a Pro Bowl berth in 2018, he had an All-Pro season. He had 51 tackles, six interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 15 passes defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble returned for a touchdown. In 2019, he had 60 tackles, two interceptions, five passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Clinton-Dix didn’t have a bad season, he recorded 78 tackles, intercepted two passes (one run back for a touchdown), defended five passes and recovered 2 fumbles (one for a touchdown). The problem was that his production did not make up for the drop in Jackson’s production. Jackson is a ball hawk and limiting him to a box is a waste of his talents.
Just as the switch the Bears made on the offensive line with Cody Whitehair and James Daniels, switching Jackson to strong safety didn’t work. The coaches eventually switched Whitehair and Daniels back to their original positions and now they need to switch Jackson back to his old position.
If the Bears do make the switch, that means Clinton-Dix is out. The team will need to find a strong safety and could go through free agency.
One thing we know about the safety position is that in the last couple of seasons the safeties haven’t been valued as they have been in recent times. Safeties were surprised that they had to settle for less money than they thought they’d have. Clinton-Dix was one of those players when he thought he’d get a big contract and ended up with a one year deal with the Bears.
Perhaps Jackson’s mega-deal changed that. They could be valued again. We’ll see what happens when the new year starts on March 18th. For now though, here are five strong safeties the Chicago Bears could target in free agency.