Former fifth-round pick Adrian Amos blossomed at safety with Bears

GREEN BAY - In March of 2018, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst began breaking down the safety position with the trade of former first-round pick Damarious Randall. Then during the season he traded former first-round pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and released Jermaine Whitehead.

On Tuesday, Gutekunst began the reconstruction of the position group by negotiating a four-year, $37 million deal with former Chicago Bear Adrian Amos.

The deal will become official on Wednesday when the new league year begins.

Per a league source, Amos will make just over $14 million in 2019 and $21 million over the first two years of the deal. With an average annual value of $9.25 million, Amos’ deal slots him as one of the top 10 paid safeties in the league. 

Amos, who will turn 26 in late April, is 6-feet and 214 pounds and should be considered a traditional strong safety. A solid tackler (269 total in four years) he started 56 of the 60 games he played for Chicago since being selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft.

But he has not yet established himself as an on-the-ball playmaker, having intercepted three passes (all in the last two years) and broken up 18 in his career while forcing three fumbles and recording two sacks.

Amos lost his job in Chicago at the start of 2017 when the Bears drafted Eddie Jackson and signed veteran Quintin Demps to man the safety spots. But Demps was injured after three games, and Amos regained the starting position.

Last year, Amos was around the ball more as he intercepted two passes and broke up nine more while recovering a fumble and recording a sack for the Bears, which had the National Football League’s No. 1 ranked scoring defense and No. 3 ranked overall defense. The Bears were also No. 7 against the pass.

Amos immediately bolsters a Packers safety room that currently only has Josh Jones, Raven Greene Tray Matthews and Jason Thompson under contract. Starter Kentrell Brice is a restricted free agent, and the club has until Wednesday at 3 p.m. to tender him an offer or he will become unrestricted and free to sign anywhere.

Ibraheim Campbell, claimed off waivers late in the year and drafted 27 spots ahead of Amos in 2015, is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is also an unrestricted free agent. Another late season addition, Eddie Pleasant, is also a free agent.

Last season, the Packers traded Randall to Cleveland for backup quarterback DeShone Kizer. Then they dealt Clinton-Dix to Washington and released Whitehead during the season. It forced veteran corner Tramon Williams to move back to safety to solidify the position for defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.