Before Eddie Jackson played a snap for the Bears, he asked former Alabama teammate and safety
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix what to expect.
“He just told me to come in, work hard, learn the playbook,” Jackson said two years ago. “Just come in ready to work. Just know it’s a job interview. You’ve got to come in and compete. Nothing’s going to be given.”
Clinton-Dix might do his mentoring from up close this year. The Bears are hosting the free agent, NFL Network reported.
The team is looking for someone to play next to the ballhawking Jackson, a first-team All-Pro last year. Clinton-Dix, 26, already knows the division, having played 4½ years with the Packers, earning a 2016 Pro Bowl nod, before being traded to the Redskins in October.
Were he to sign with the Bears, he’d replace Adrian Amos, who signed a four-year deal to play for the Packers.
Clinton-Dix was joined on the open safety market Wednesday by another big name, Eric Berry, who was cut by the Chiefs after nine seasons. A cancer survivor, Berry was well-respected by his Chiefs teammates and by Bears coach Matt Nagy, a former Kansas City assistant. But he has played only three games the last two years — he tore his Achilles tendon after one game in 2017 and had an ailing heel last year.
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Wednesday was the first day of the league season. After two days of legal tampering, teams were allowed to sign the deals that had been negotiated with agents.
The Bears made the following moves:
† As general manager Ryan Pace promised last month, the team released kicker Cody Parkey, who missed eight field goals and three extra points in his only season with the team. Parkey infamously double-doinked the 43-yard potential game-winning field goal against the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. He angered his bosses by appearing on the “Today” show five days later.
† The team announced their three earlier signings — nickel back Buster Skrine to a three-year deal, and running back Mike Davis and returner Cordarrelle Patterson to two-year pacts — pending physicals.
† The Bears signed guard/center Ted Larsen, who will compete for a backup job on the offensive line, to a one-year deal. The feisty Larsen started eight games for the Bears in 2016 before spending the last two seasons with the Dolphins.
† The team tendered three exclusive-rights free agents — defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris, outside linebacker Isaiah Irving and offensive tackle Rashaad Coward — to guarantee their returns in 2019. The Bears didn’t tender safety DeAndre Houston-Carson or long snapper Patrick Scales, who were restricted free agents. They hit the open market but could return.
