Has The Time Arrived for a New Tarik Cohen Contract?
All the talk about contracts with the Bears has understandably centered around the fifty-year option for Mitchell Trubisky and a potential contract extension for wide receiver Allen Robinson.
One other player's contract ends after this season who seems like a logical candidate for an extension, yet little has been said about it.
It is, of course, running back Tarik Cohen. The Bears chose Cohen in the same fourth round where they selected Eddie Jackson in 2017, and Jackson has his $58.4 million deal.
What about Cohen? When will he get his?
It's a complicated and difficult deal to come up with, if the Bears want to do one at all.
Cohen is not an every-down back. In old school football terms, he is a third-down back. As a result, making contract comparisons becomes difficult.
Not every team has a back like Cohen. Even if they do, they might not possess the ability to contribute as an all-around threat like Cohen because he is also a valued member of special teams as one of the league's best punt returners.
The closest player skill-wise to Cohen is Darren Sproles, the player Cohen looked up to when he was a youth. Comparing contract figures is impossible there because Sproles' career took place largely in a different salary cap level and era. Also, Sproles didn't have a conventional career. He suffered a season-ending injury and didn't play in his second year after making a very minor contribution as a rookie. So it was his third year before he got rolling. In Cohen's case, he's been there every season from Day 1.
The closest players to Cohen for contract comparison purposes are Duke Johnson and Austin Ekeler.
Johnson received a new contract for three years and $15.6 million when he went to Houston from Cleveland last year. Also, this year's comparison is Austin Ekeler, who received a four-year, $24.5 million contract.
Tarik Cohen had nine fewer carries (250) for 58 fewer yards (1,027) than Johnson had in his first three years. Cohen caught 15 more passes (203) than Johnson and made the Pro Bowl as a return man while Johnson had a few token punt returns in his second season (17) without really being involved in other returns.
Johnson is 20 pounds heavier than the 191-pound Cohen, and really could be used more as a conventional running back than he has been. Yet, his receiving ability makes him too valuable to try in that manner.
Cohen (5-6, 191) is closer to Ekeler's size (5-10, 200) and has been used more like Johnson has been
Ekeler has been far more productive on offense than Cohen has been. Ekeler has 285 rushes, 35 more than Cohen, and gained 244 more yards (1,371) than Cohen. He caught 45 fewer passes (158) than Cohen, but gained 142 more yards (1,676) with them than Cohen (203-1,534).
Because of his special teams snaps, Cohen has been on the field more times (1,684 snaps) than both Ekeler (1,529) and Johnson (1,629).
The entire situation boils down to what the Bears view Cohen's punt return value is, and whether they even attach a significant amount to it. If so, he could be worth every much as Ekeler at $24.5 million over four years.
Matt Nagy's offense is one which revolves around creating mismatches and capitalizing. There is no more of a mismatch than Cohen's speed and cutting ability matched up in the open field on a linebacker.
However, this all comes with an asterisk attached.
Last year Cohen was not the Cohen who is so dangerous in matchups. The Bears couldn't get him the ball in the open field, whether because of his own inabilities or due to the lack of other components in their offense—chiefly a tight end to attract attention from him.
Cohen has to be operating at full capacity and not rushing for a career-low 213 yards, or catching a career-high 79 passes but for a career-low 5.8 yards a reception.
As a result, the Bears could feel the need to see more from their diminutive threat before doling out another contract extension.
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