Kevin Byard Reveals Why He Chose Bears Over Other Suitors

The Chicago Bears haven't made any huge moves in free agency, but they've still managed to secure help at key positions. One of them is safety. Cutting Eddie Jackson was a difficult move, but his contract and health setbacks made it inevitable. With help in the draft unlikely, GM Ryan Poles had to find a solution on the veteran market. After careful consideration, they pinpointed former All-Pro Kevin Byard as the right guy for the job. His versatility, range, ball skills, and leadership were all traits they knew could benefit their young secondary.

However, Chicago wasn't the only team interested in his services. Others tried to make a play as well. After careful consideration, the safety chose the Bears. He met with the press for the first time on Thursday where the first question he was asked was why here. Byard stated the presence of Matt Eberflus, young secondary pieces like Jaylon Johnson, and pass rusher Montez Sweat made this defense seem appealing. He felt it was one he wanted to be part of, especially after the frustrating year he had in Philadelphia.

It's hard to blame him.

"There’s a lot of things to be excited about. But like I said, this defense has a lot of great pieces here for sure, especially in the secondary. Obviously, just signed Jaylon to a big extension, I really think highly of him. He’s a really great player. And obviously, getting with Brisker, Jaquan, I think he’s a really good ascending player as well. But obviously, there’s a lot of pieces, from Kyler Gordon, obviously Tyrique Stevenson was a rookie last year. So I like what they’re doing in the secondary. And obviously, you got Montez Sweat, who obviously you brought in in a trade. … So like I said, a lot of great pieces and obviously two really good linebackers, so excited about this defense and just excited about the prospect of what we could in this team and the challenge of obviously trying to knock Detroit off the high horse.”

Kevin Byard might be an upgrade over Jackson.

Both were superb ballhawks in coverage, but there is one significant difference between the two. Byard is a far better run defender. He's topped 100 tackles in three different seasons. The guy doesn't make business decisions at any point. It is part of why teammates love him. His former coaches rave about his leadership, calling him a genuine quarterback of the defense. Having somebody like that on the back end can be invaluable. If Montez Sweat and the pass rush can rev it up this year, few are better than Byard at taking advantage.

The best part is he won't have to do most of the work as in years past. The Bears have a young, ascending secondary led by Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon, and Tyrique Stevenson. Kevin Byard can conduct them like a puppet master and put himself in the best possible positions to create turnovers. All he has to do is stay healthy. Don't worry about his age. He's still plenty athletic enough to cause problems in coverage. The Bears got themselves a good player, even if only for a short time.