Bears to sign Seahawks standout safety Coby Bryant
Coby Bryant, the standout safety who helped guide the Seahawks to the Super Bowl title last season, is the newest Bear.
The team will sign him when the league year begins Wednesday, a source confirmed. The three-year deal expected to be worth $40 million, per ESPN.
Pro Football Focus graded Bryant as the 27th-best safety out of 91 candidates last year and the 22nd-best out of 98 the year before. He’s best known as a stout run stopper but had four interceptions, seven pass deflections and one forced fumble last year as an integral part of the NFL’s best defense. He had four tackles in the Seahawks’ 29-13 Super Bowl victory against the Patriots.
Bryant, who turns 27 at the end of this month, was a fourth-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2022. He was drafted as a cornerback before being moved to safety.
The Bears entered the offseason with a dire need at safety, having their top four players — starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker and backups Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks — coming out contract. It’s unclear whether Bryant’s addition precludes the Bears from bringing back Byard, a captain last year. Both sides expressed optimism earlier this offseason that they’d get a deal done. It would be unusual for the Bears to devote major free-agent contracts to both the starting free safety and strong safety positions.
Byard said he wanted to return to Chicago but was clear he’d take family into consideration. His wife and kids spend half the year in Nashville, where he played as a member of the Titans. Former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is now the coach in New England, another spot that could be appealing. Byard said he wants to go somewhere where he can win.
Bryant is named after former Lakers great Kobe Bryant and wears his No. 8 jersey.