Chicago Bears: 3 Players who won’t be back in 2021
Chicago Bears cut candidate No. 1: Buster Skrine, CB
Another player the Chicago Bears can find to cut is cornerback Buster Skrine. The Bears used two draft picks on cornerbacks in 2020. Those players were Jaylon Johnson and Kindle Vildor. They also had Duke Shelley.
So far this offseason, the Bears resigned Tre Roberson. Roberson was with the Bears during last year’s offseason but parted ways with him before the season began. Now he has a chance to prove his worth in 2021.
That leaves Skrine as the odd man out.
Many thought Skrine’s 2019 season showed he was over the struggles he had the past few seasons before he arrived in Chicago. Unfortunately for him and the Bears, that 2019 season was the exception and not the rule. He reverted to form in 2020.
In 2019, he gave up four touchdowns in 16 games. In 2020, he played in 12 games and gave up five touchdowns. Also, he allowed a staggering 78.1 completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks, giving up 507 receiving yards. That number was 465 in 2019. Opposing quarterbacks loved to pick on him when he was on the field.
Remember, he played four more games in 2019 than in 2020. Quarterbacks had a passer rating of 125.7 against him in 2020. That rating was 91.8 in 2019.
Speaking of the number of games Skrine missed in 2020, he suffered a concussion in Week 12 and wasn’t seen on the field again. That gave Shelley and Vildor snaps they wouldn’t have normally gotten and got some experience to go into 2021.
If the Bears cut Skrine with a June 1 designation, they save over $4.9 million. With the way his play dropped this season, the Bears shouldn’t expect a noticeable improvement in 2021. Cutting him is the move the Bears need to make.
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By making just these three cuts (and including the $7.6 million they carry over) Chicago ends up with about $22.4 million in cap space. There could be other cuts to free up more space. Then, add in the contract restructures, and the Chicago Bears have plenty of cap space to go out and build a strong roster in 2021.