The Chicago Bears have a lot of big decisions ahead of them regarding the 2020 offseason. Much of it will be focused on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line needs work. They have no tight ends. Then there is the obvious elephant in the room of the quarterback issue. However, this has made it too easy to ignore another “turd” in the situation as Nagy would call it. That being running back Tarik Cohen.
There is no denying the guy can be so explosive with the ball in his hands. He’s a big play waiting to happen. The problem is a question has begun to creep up lately. Are those big plays, which have grown few in number this year, worth all the other headaches he seems to provide on a weekly basis? This isn’t an overreaction. Some could argue that Cohen has become almost a liability to this team. Not just on offense but special teams as well.
This was on display like never before against the New York Jets. Cohen went back to field punts all day and was remarkably consistent in his making wrong decisions on how to field them. Multiple times he cost the Bears significant field position because he’d failed to make a fair catch when he should’ve. If that weren’t bad enough, he came into the game leading the team with six dropped passes and added to his tally with another. He’s currently on pace for 612 yards from scrimmage in 2019, which would be a career-low.
Tarik Cohen should be subject to trade discussions in 2020
All of this creates an interesting picture for next offseason. Cohen will be entering the final year of his rookie contract. It doesn’t seem like the Bears will be in a position to give him the kind of extension he’ll be looking for. Not with other more vital contracts needing attention like Eddie Jackson and Allen Robinson. This leaves an interesting decision for Ryan Pace. Does he let Cohen play out his contract in 2020 and leave as a free agent or does he put him on the trade block?
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The first idea hopefully gives him a chance to return to his 2018 form that was so hard to stop and should net the Bears a compensatory pick in 2022. On the other hand, they could get a 2020 pick by dealing him right away. There are plenty of teams who would view Cohen as a legitimate weapon they can utilize and would be willing to pay for it. Chicago gets to add to their collection of draft picks and avoid any messy contract disputes.
Maybe something changes in the final five games but at the rate things are going, it’s getting harder to justify keeping Cohen as a focal point of the Bears offensive attack any longer.
