Coby Bryant
Getty
New Bears safety Coby Bryant.
Within hours of the free agency negotiating window opening, the Chicago Bears signed safety Coby Bryant to a three-year, $40 million deal, with just under $26 million guaranteed.
Bryant was a fourth-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2022, and the Seattle Seahawks brought him in to play cornerback. He started at nickel as a rookie and played well almost instantly, notching 70 tackles, four forced fumbles, four QB hits and 2.0 sacks.
In 2024, he moved to strong safety, and he played free safety in 2025. In those two years at safety, Bryant amassed 139 total tackles, 13 pass breakups and seven interceptions. His 2025 season was his best yet: 66 tackles, four picks, while allowing 17 receptions on 26 targets — and he capped it all off by helping Seattle win a Super Bowl.
While he’s Chicago’s most expensive addition so far this offseason, Sports Illustrated’s Gene Chamberlain noted the “hidden risk” the Bears are taking in replacing veteran Kevin Byard with Bryant.
Chicago Bears Get Warning on Signing Safety Coby Bryant to Replace Kevin Byard
Kevin Byard
GettyThe Chicago Bears signed Coby Bryant to replace Kevin Byard at safety, but some think Bryant may come with a small warning label.
Replacing Byard will be no easy feat. Byard led the NFL with seven interceptions last season — and was named a first-team All-Pro — and started all 34 regular-season games across two years in Chicago. He was also, by many accounts, the most respected defensive player in the locker room.
“The new safety’s talent is undeniable in coverage and run defense, but football isn’t an individual sport, particularly on defense,” Chamberlain wrote on April 2. “The problem the Bears will have with Bryant is how he lacks the experience of a wise old veteran safety who directs traffic and leads the way Byard did alongside teammates who he already knows well.”
That’s a fair point. Byard has a decade of football experience and three Pro Bowl nods under his belt, whereas Bryant has just two full seasons playing the position. He’s also never played in Dennis Allen’s defense, so there will likely be a learning curve on top of everything else. The Bears don’t seem too worried about that, though.
“When we watched Coby’s tape, he was a guy that got us excited,” Bears GM Ryan Poles said in March. “He played our style of ball, he played fast, he played physically. Those are the things that DA is looking for, that we’re looking for. We thought there was leadership there.”
With Byard gone, leadership will be critical in Chicago’s secondary.
Bears Likely Drafting Another Safety to Play Opposite Bryant
The Bears also let Jaquan Brisker and Jonathan Owens walk in free agency, so they’re widely expected to draft Bryant’s running mate. If the Bears are looking to add a safety in Round 1, Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren could be a target at No. 25 overall. At 6-foot-4 with nine career forced fumbles, McNeil-Warren is a physical, box-safety type whose downhill style would complement Bryant’s coverage skills pretty well.
Chamberlain wasn’t saying Bryant can’t play, but he does think it’s legit to be concerned that a converted cornerback with two years of safety experience paired with a rookie draft pick has the potential to give Chicago’s defensive coaches fits.
“Bryant’s ability to lead a group that also will include a rookie, and pull them all together in a scheme he is just learning himself will be closely scrutinized,” Chamberlain also noted, adding: “Expect breakdowns in the secondary at times due to communication issues.”
Bryant will be new to Allen’s defense, so there will surely be some mistakes, and no rookie ever plays mistake-free, either. There will definitely be bumps in the road. But if Bryant can acclimate quickly, the Bears should be just fine.