The Bears have signed Eagles castoff Kevin Byard to a two-year contract worth $15 million, ESPN’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday.
The Eagles acquired the 30-year-old Byard from the Titans in late October in exchange for safety Terrell Edmunds and 2024 fifth- and sixth-round picks. He played in 10 games, all starts, and was released on March 1 to rid themselves of his $9.6 million base salary and $14.42 million cap hit in 2024. He counts only $710,000 in dead money in 2024.
Byard wasn’t awful in his 10 games with the Eagles, but he was certainly nowhere close to the player he was when he made two Pro Bowls and earned 1st-team all-pro honors twice with the Titans.
And with a new defensive coaching staff coming in, led by Vic Fangio, and Howie Roseman intent on dramatically reshaping the secondary, an aging, descending Byard did not fit into the Eagles’ plans. Especially at $9.6 million.
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The Eagles also released oft-injured nickel corner Avonte Maddox, and veteran corner James Bradberry faces an uncertain future as well.
Byard’s reported $7.5 million average annual salary would rank him 11th among safeties, according to Spotrac.
Last year, the Bears used Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker as their primary starting safeties, with Elijah Hicks starting six games when Jackson was hurt. They released Jackson last month, so it looks like Brisker – a 2nd-round pick from Penn State in 2022 – and Byard will be their 2024 starters.
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Byard is the Bears’ second major recent signing in the secondary. They re-signed cornerback Jaylon Johnson last week to a four-year, reported $76 million contract.
Byard has 28 career interceptions, 5th-most among active NFL safeties behind Harrison Smith (34), Tashaun Gipson (33), Tyrann Mathieu (33), and Justin Simmons (30).
Because the Eagles released Byard, the Bears did not have to wait until the start of the legal tampering period at noon Monday to begin negotiations with him. Because Byard was released, his signing in Chicago does not affect the Eagles’ comp picks in 2025.
