Getty The Chicago Bears are looking at cornerback Deatrick Nichols.
Fewer teams in the NFL need more help in the secondary than the Chicago Bears.
While second-year cornerback Jaylon Johnson will be a defensive building block moving forward, Duke Shelley, Artie Burns and Kindle Vildor have provided zero answers at the position for Chicago this year. A recent COVID-19 outbreak led to sixth-round pick Thomas Graham Jr. getting an opportunity, and he has had flashes, so he’ll be one to watch moving forward, but other than that, the Bears have been hurting when it comes to defensive backs.
The team also just placed backup strong safety Teez Tabor on injured reserve with an ankle injury on December 27, so it’s not a surprise to see Chicago has been looking at a few DBs from the Canadian Football League.
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Bears Host DB Deatrick Nichols for Visit
According to the NFL’s December 28 waiver wire, the Bears brought Deatrick Nichols in for a visit, and they also worked out cornerback DeAundre “Dee” Alford.
Nichols, a defensive back out of South Florida, played 50 games for the Bulls, racking up 175 total tackles, 11 interceptions, 24 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, 1.0 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.
He went undrafted in 2018 before signing with the Arizona Cardinals. He played in two games that season, seeing action on special teams. He had brief stints with the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins after that before catching on with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in February of 2021.
Nichols played in 12 games for the Blue Bombers, netting 46 total tackles, three interceptions and a sack.
The 5-foot-10, 189-pound Nichols is also quite speedy. He had a 40-yard dash time that was “believed to hover in the 4.3-second range,” coming out of college in 2018, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He also had a 37-inch vertical and a 10’7” broad jump.
In addition to his time in the CFL, Nichols spent the spring of 2020 in the XFL with the Houston Roughnecks.
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Bears Also Worked Out Nichols’ Teammate DeAundre Alford
Alford played his college ball at Division II Tusculum in Tennessee, where he amassed 2.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended in four seasons.
He sat out in 2020 due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Alford was an All-Star for Winnipeg in 2021 alongside Nichols. He finished the season with 48 total tackles, four interceptions, a forced fumble and a defensive touchdown.
“I’m itching to play,” Alford told the Bombers’ official website in August about his time with Winnipeg. “I want to show everyone what I’m capable of. … It feels good to know I come from a small school. A lot of guys on the team don’t even know where Tusculum University is, so it just made me want to go harder, just being around a lot guys that come from Division I football or Power-5 schools. That makes it feel even better, coming from a small school.”
Both players are under contract with the Blue Bombers next season, but either or both could still be signed by the Bears.
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