The Bears have a lot of improvement to make on both sides of the ball. While things got better in year one under John Fox, there is still room to grow.
While the Bears pass defense was ranked highly, I doubt anyone who watched the team would say that the Bears really had a unit teams feared.
They surrendered a number of big plays through the air and lost games on pass plays (first Vikings game) or saw momentum swing to a loss on them (49ers game).
Despite finishing 10th in pass yards received, fans voted cornerback the number three biggest need of the offseason for the team, showing the fact that the stats just didn't add up.
In that post I linked to, the honorable Lester Wiltfong Jr. broke down some of the options that the Bears hav for upgrading cornerback through both the draft and free agency.
My counterpart EJ Synder has been breaking down lots of the draft options in his writings but I wanted to take a closer look at one of the free agent options.
Sean Smith is ranked as the second-best cornerback free agent available according to Pro Football Focus. He has improved on his coverage grade every year he's been with the Chiefs. On their new 1-100 grading scale they rate him at 83.8 based on his 967 snaps. While he is 28 years old, Smith has had a solid career with the Dolphins and Chiefs.
Last year, for the Chiefs' third ranked pass defense, Smith started all 13 games he appeared in and racked up 40 tackles and two interceptions. While he's never been an interception machine (career high in INTs is two, which he's snagged in four different seasons). Smith missed three games due to a suspension stemming from a DUI plea he made last offseason. Other than that, he's missed only two other games in his career.
While he isn't an elite corner, there's no doubt that he can be a top CB and he is a year younger than Tracy Porter. His last contract averaged $5.5 million per year over a three year deal, according to Spotrac. Around $7.5 million was guaranteed and while he will likely be looking for a bump in money on one last pre-30 years old deal, he should certainly be affordable to the Bears should they wish.
Do you think Sean Smith would be a good addition to the Bears?