The Chicago Bears have a lot to think about when it comes to the safety position this offseason. Only one safety, Gervarrius Owens, is currently under contract, with Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson all set to become free agents this offseason.
If there’s one safety the Bears want to retain, it’s Byard. There’s a mutual interest between him and the organization to remain a Bear, with general manager Ryan Poles giving the All-Pro safety some praise.
“I think Kevin is a special player. I have no problem saying that’s a player that we would like to have back. But again, when you add the other safeties into that mix and all the other decisions we have across the roster — cap restraints, things like that — it will be a challenge, but that’s part of what we do.”
Notice how Poles didn’t specifically mention Brisker? It might not mean much, but according to Chicago Tribune senior writer Brad Biggs, it’s hard to envision Brisker re-signing with the Bears.
Jaquan Brisker Might Have Played His Last Snap as a Bear
If the Bears decide to re-sign Byard, which would likely be the case given how impactful he’s been since arriving in Chicago, that could shut the door on a second contract for Brisker.
“I don’t see any way the Bears sign both Byard and Brisker,” Biggs wrote. “That would be pouring too much money into the safety position. Even if Byard departs, I’m a little skeptical the team would pony up for Brisker. He was fantastic in the divisional-round loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It was his best game of the season, maybe his best in four years.”
There’s no doubt that Brisker had a fantastic outing against Los Angeles. On one drive, he did everything himself:
- 1st down: Matthew Stafford sacked by Brisker
- 2nd down: Kyren Williams tackled by Brisker
- 3rd down: Stafford pass broken up by Brisker
Yet, it may not be enough to convince the Bears to re-sign him.
Injury Concern and Cap Space Restraints
A major reason why the Bears will be on the fence with bringing back Brisker, according to Biggs, is due to his history of concussions and lack of impact.
“I just don’t feel like he made a major impact over the course of the regular season, and you can’t let recency bias cloud your judgment,” Biggs wrote. “Brisker played in all 19 games, and that’s a credit to him. He missed time in each of his first three seasons because of concussions, including 12 games in 2024. That’s a major concern. Give him a lot of respect for how he played against the Rams, but it’s a little hard for me to envision him parlaying that into a new contract with a team that clearly needs to draft at least one safety and build the position up. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my read on his situation.”
In a perfect world, the Bears re-sign Brisker along with Byard and the rest of the safeties. But that’s just not the case.
The Bears are currently sitting at negative $4 million in cap room, according to OverTheCap.com. And safety isn’t the only position Chicago needs to address in the offseason. But not having an extension yet could price him out of Chicago, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
“The 2022 second-round pick still doesn’t have an extension, which isn’t the best sign in terms of his future with a team that has a ton of offseason decisions to make,” Graziano wrote. “It sounds to me as if Brisker will have an outside market that prices him out of Chicago.”
Maybe, despite everything going on surrounding Brisker, he does re-sign. But it looks like he might have played his last snap with the Bears.
Jaquan Brisker Gets Bad News on Future With Bears