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On Monday, the Chicago Bears signed eight-year veteran cornerback Tracy Porter to a one-year deal. This new addition adds more competition to the Bears’ secondary behind starting cornerbacks Tim Jennings and Kyle Fuller.
Although Porter is best known for coming up with game-clinching interceptions during the 2009 NFL season’s NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XLIV for the New Orleans Saints, his recent durability doesn’t give a good indication of how instrumental he could be. Only once has he played all 16 games in a season.
In 2012, Porter missed 10 games while with the Denver Broncos due to symptoms he had after experiencing a seizure in August of that year. And last season, the Washington Redskins placed Porter on injured reserve with an AC joint separation in his right shoulder.
The good news about this addition is that Porter brings experience to Chicago’s defense. Furthermore, the time he spent with head coach John Fox while in Denver should help as well. However, the 23 games Porter missed in the last three seasons raises questions of how he’ll be able to compete against numerous cornerbacks during training camp.
As mentioned earlier, Jennings and Fuller should be the Week 1 starters. This leaves an open competition for the nickel spot for Porter, Alan Ball, Demontre Hurst, Al Louis-Jean, Sherrick McManis and the many other undrafted free agents currently on the Bears’ roster.
With this late signing, Porter didn’t get a chance to practice with the team during organized team activities and will have to wait until July 30 to get better acquainted with his new teammates at training camp. Porter could be somewhat of a significant presence in Chicago’s defense in 2015, but his constant injuries may also lead the Bears’ secondary to be suspect once again.
Clyde A. Speller is an NFL writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClydeASpeller.
