Bears long-term safety problem could be solved in 2025 depending on the potential of two new UDFAs joining the roster
Drafting a safety in the 2025 NFL Draft seemed like a potential sneaky move for the Chicago Bears to make at some point last weekend to fill a future need ahead of time, yet the move was not made during the seven-round draft.Heading into the season, the Bears will be returning both starting safeties in […]
Drafting a safety in the 2025 NFL Draft seemed like a potential sneaky move for the Chicago Bears to make at some point last weekend to fill a future need ahead of time, yet the move was not made during the seven-round draft.
Heading into the season, the Bears will be returning both starting safeties in veteran Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker. Both players are entering into the final season of their current contracts with the team and each have their own long-term concerns.
For Byard, he'll be 32-years-old when the 2025 season kicks off. While he played at a high level during his first season in Chicago in 2024, you have to wonder how many strong seasons he truly has left. As for Brisker, the concerns are injury related after suffering his third career concussion that forced him to miss 12 games last season.
Even after evaluating the tape, head coach Ben Johnson identified some things he wants Brisker to improve on going into his fourth and final season of his rookie contract with a potential extension hopefully coming down the road.
"The one thing that I always thought that we could take advantage of [in Detroit] was you could get him to have some bad eyes at times. So that’s the one thing we’ll talk about is to make sure he stays sound and he’s playing disciplined football," Johnson explained. "But he’s got a great skill set. I think he’s a heck of a football player."
Outside of Byard and Brisker, the Bears had four backup safeties on the roster going into the draft in Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens, Tarvarius Moore and Alex Cook. Each of those four players are only on the books for the 2025 season.
That's why not selecting a safety last weekend came as a surprise to many, including myself. But the team did walk out of the weekend with two roster additions who offer some long-term potential at the position.
Bears UDFA signings could solve long-term safety problems
After the 2025 NFL Draft wrapped up on Saturday, teams immediately went to work signing undrafted free agents who still had strong value and potential. Among the Bears UDFAs signings were two safeties in Major Burns and Tysheem Johnson.
"Two guys who can play safety and nickel as well. They were brought in to develop but also to push to see if they can make a roster spot," general manager Ryan Poles said on ESPN1000 on Thursday. "We're just going to monitor that situation but at the same time we need to be developing talent in that room."
Burns is the latest defensive back talent coming out of the prestigious LSU program that produced high level players such as Derek Stingley Jr., Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, and Jamal Adams.
Despite being a four-year starter who logged 45 career games during his college career, Burns didn't have the pre-draft momentum those previous LSU greats had. Burns is still a very physical-style player and an aggressive tackler, which appeals to Dennis Allen's ideal safety/nickel role. But his production dipped in 2024 after recording just 47 tackles while still having 1.5 sacks and five tackles for a loss.
As for Johnson, the former Ole Miss Rebel and Oregon Ducks' defensive back had a weaker pre-draft process than expected but the versatility he showed in college was still enough for him to land on a roster.
During the 2024 season, Johnson played 290 snaps in the box, 101 snaps in the slot, and 387 snaps at free safety. Statistically, Johnson was a strong tackler as well recording 137 tackles during the last two seasons while also adding five interceptions and eight pass breakups in coverage.
The additions of these two players will certainly add some youth and competition to a position that desperately needed it going into the summer. We'll see which player shines the brightest and if it'll be enough to crack the 53-man roster for 2025.
