Top Options Available for Bears to Replace Artie Burns

One veteran cornerback in particular would be a fit in Chicago based on what the team has done with several other positions during free agency

With the Bears' depth at cornerback whittled down following Artie Burns' season-ending ACL tear, there are options available among free agency.

One of them makes far more sense than the others based on what they have done with several other positions this offseason.

The problem is most of those available come with severe injury baggage, age or have made salary demands teams simply don't want to meet for contracts. With cornerbacks, it's often about the money.

The Bears drafted Jaylon Johnson to play and the cornerback they would look for would simply be someone along the lines of Burns, who was trying to make a comeback after a couple of down seasons until he tore his left ACL on Tuesday at practice.

Trumaine Johnson and Dre Kirkpatrick head up any list of free agent cornerback options but both of them have had their share of injuries.

Kirkpatrick has had four reported concussions and is coming off of a PCL tear in his knee 10 months ago. The former Bengals cornerback has 10 interceptions in 67 starts.

Johnson, 30, has had only two concussions but he's gone through plenty of nagging injuries. The 6-foot-2, 213-pounder has 77 career starts and 23 interceptions but he has played 16 games only once in the last six years and only 10 and seven games the last two years.

Former Titans cornerback Logan Ryan has had a relatively stable career injury-wise, aside from a fractured fibula two years ago. He has 17 interceptions in 85 starts and in each of the last five years played 13 games or more.

Former Jets and Chiefs cornerback Morris Claiborne finished last year with a shoulder injury and missed the playoffs and Super Bowl. He's not too old to be on the field at 30 but has had a few other less serious injuries. Claiborne started his career with Dallas for five seasons and never started a full season. He did become a regular starter with the Jets in 2017 and 2018 but has just seven career interceptions in 74 starts.

If the Bears decided to go the route they took with Ted Ginn Jr. and bring in an aging cornerback who might want to finish has career with a winning team and strong defense, Aqib Talib would be a solid signing.

There has been a strong emphasis by the Bears at bringing in mentoring type players to help younger players along and at age 34 Talib would fit this role for Jaylon Johnson. 

They signed Jimmy Graham to be a mentoring type for Cole Kmet, and also be a contributor. They signed Ted Ginn Jr. and hope he can have an impact on rookie Darnell Mooney, if not several other younger receivers like Anthony Miller and Riley Ridley.

Although Talib has been on injured reserve the last two years, he hasn't had a serious knee injury or anything of this type.

The Bears would be acquiring a player with 35 career interceptions and his role would only be to bridge the gap until the time Jaylon Johnson is ready to start. So he wouldn't need to go the distance as a starter.

Talib played for $3.76 million last year with the Rams, then $4.23 million with the Dolphins. Considering he's 34 and no team has signed him to date, they should attempt to get him into camp on a one-year, low-cost deal.

The worst he can do is turn them down and watch COVID-19 football this year. Considering Burns was only getting $1.047 million this year, it's difficult to see Ryan Pace signing any veteran cornerback unless he waits until some are cut just as training camp ends.

The other option is playing young cornerbacks like Johnson or rookie Kindle Vildor or third-year player Kevin Toliver . 

With a potentially dominant defensive front, the last thing the Bears need to do is tarnish it by putting a sub-standard secondary behind it.

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