Bears filling hole at safety with Seattle’s Bryant

The Bears filled one of their two open starting safety spots Monday by reportedly bringing in a Super Bowl champion.

The Bears will sign Coby Bryant to a three-year, $40 million deal, per multiple reports. The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first reported the signing.

Bryant was one of the top safeties available in free agency. He played in 15 games for the Seattle Seahawks last season, including all three playoff games that eventually included a Super Bowl championship. In those three games, Bryant defended two passes and had 10 tackles.

Over the past two seasons, Bryant made a big impact for the Seahawks’ secondary as he transitioned over to safety. He had originally started his career at cornerback during his first two seasons. But when head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde took over in 2024, they moved Bryant to safety.

He handled the move well, becoming a versatile playmaker quarterbacks had to worry about in a talented secondary.

Bryant had all seven of his career interceptions over those two seasons at safety. He played in 32 games and started 26. Bryant’s also forced seven fumbles during his four-year career and has 17 passes defended during that span.

The Seahawks drafted Bryant in the fourth round in 2022 out of Cincinnati. Bryant played in 17 games during his rookie season and made six starts. He dealt with a toe injury for most of his second season, only playing in nine games.

The move came as the Bears had no safety who contributed last season under contract heading into next season. Starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker and backup Jonathan Owens are all set to be free agents at the start of the new NFL year Wednesday.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles wasn’t likely to bring back both Byard and Brisker. After Brisker played all 17 games last season, many expected him to get a higher contract than the Bears could afford.

There was some thought the Bears could bring back Byard, who earned his third All-Pro honor last season at the age of 32. Both the Bears and Byard seemed open to a potential reunion this offseason if it made sense for both sides.

Bryant’s reported signing would make that reunion more difficult to facilitate. It’s likely the Bears will use one of their early draft picks in April’s draft to fill that other starter spot.