Byrd’s Move Sparks “Toughest Call” Debate

The Chicago Bears will have a new-look safety room next season following the departures of starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, as well as reserve Jonathan Owens. Former seventh-round pick Elijah Hicks will be the lone returning safety in a room that also features prized free-agent signing Coby Bryant. During the pre-free agency process, general manager Ryan Poles made it clear that he'd like to bring back Byard, who just had one of the best seasons of his career in Year 10.

Brisker's departure didn't come as a surprise, after Poles failed to single him out, but Byard felt like a sure-fire return. Instead, Chicago went out and landed Bryant, who's fresh off a Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks. Bryant, 26, is a ballhawk who plays fast and physical and has the potential to really thrive in Dennis Allen's defense.

So while losing Byard was tough, the Bears are excited to see what Bryant can do. “That's what makes this part of this difficult," Poles said. "You have certain plans; there's guys that you would like to have back and kind of seeing how the landscape set up and you do your research.

When we watched Coby’s tape he was a guy that got us excited. Because again, he played our style of ball, he played fast, he played physically. Those are the things that (Dennis Allen) is looking for, that we're looking for.