I was as giddy as a school girl when the Bears management decided to re-up Nathan Vasher back in '07. He was, at the time, one of the shining stars on an extremely talented and ball-hawking defense. A defense that propelled the 2006 team to Super Bowl XLI, despite the pourous play on the opposite side of the ball. He played with an intensity matched by few and always seemed to put himself in the position to make plays. Why not pay out for one of NFL's top young cornerbacks?

More after the jump...

Vasher's Stats (pre-contract extension)

2004 - 16 Games / 7 Started  |  5 Interceptions (1TD)  |  1 FR  |  28 Tackles / 1 Assist

2005 - 16 Games / 15 Started  |  8 Interceptions (1TD)  |  0 FR  |  41 Tackles / 7 Assist

2006 - 14 Games / 13 Started  |  3 Interceptions (0TD)  |  0 FR  |  33 Tackles / 12 Assist

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In 2005, Vasher also set the record for the longest return of any kind when he returned a missed 52-yard field goal for an 108-yard touchdown. A record that has since been tied by teammate Devin Hester and surpassed by San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie. Nathan struggled with injuries and missed some games in 2006, but came back strong in the playoffs. He was a key factor in the NFC Title Game, recovering a fumble and recording an interception against Drew Brees and the New Orlean Saints.

Good return option on top of the 16 interceptions in three years, it's not hard to see why Jerry Angelo and company awarded Vasher with a healthy five-year contract. His contract was worth nearly $28 million with $14 million in bonuses and breaks down like this:

Signing Bonus = $9.5 million

2007 - 850,000 base salary | 2 million roster bonus

2008 - 750,000 base salary | 2.5 million roster bonus

2009 - 2.9 million base salary

2010 - 2.95 million base salary

2011 - 3.45 million base salary

Vasher's Stats (post-contract extension)

2007 - 4 Games / 2 Started  |  1 Interception (0TD)  |  0 FR  |  7 Tackles / 1 Assist

2008 - 8 Games / 7 Started  |  1 Interception (0TD)  |  0 FR  |  20 Tackles / 1 Assist

Since his pay day, Vasher has appeared in a total of 12 games and recorded a mere two interceptions. Not outstanding stats for a guy tagged as the "Interceptor."

At the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine, Jerry Angelo spoke about Vasher's future and said, "I don't know where he is now, I touched on that. He has to re-establish himself, he's competing to start." Jerry has shown patience with Nathan, despite the inability to stay healthy and compete at a high-level even when he is. However, it seems that patience is started to grow thin and Vasher may be on the outside looking in this year.

Zack Bowman (a second year, fifth round player) has out-performed Vasher so far this off season. And despite being injured, is considered by many to open the season opposite Charles Tillman. Lovie Smith has even sang Bowman's praise as late as last week after watching Vasher struggle in the preseason opener against Buffalo.

What does this mean for the "Interceptor?"

I've been under the assumption for a while now that Vasher would cost too much to keep on the roster (as a backup), but cost way too much to cut. I originally thought he'd cost somewhere in the ballpark of $4.54 and $5.33 million (his salary cap charges) to drop him this season.

Now after re-analyzing the numbers, I'm calculating the salary cap charges (above) minus his base salary (2.9 million for 2009). This would put his salary cap hit for the 2009 season somewhere in the range of a 1.64 to 2.43 million. 2010 and 2011 would have similar implications on our overall cap allotment and would basically be dead money.

NOTE: I could still be off on these numbers, so please feel free to enlighten me if I'm not connecting the dots in the right order.

Not being an expert on the cap implications of cutting a player such as Vasher, I reached out to Kevin Seifert, the NFC-North Blogger for ESPN. And the following is his response:

"I haven't been able to get exact figures, but what I did find out is there won't be a prohibitive hit if they cut him. The cap won't be a reason for keeping him."