When safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix signed with the Chicago Bears last March, he was coming to a dominant defense with an opportunity to prove himself to the rest of the NFL in hopes of nabbing a long-term extension.
Clinton-Dix certainly believes he’s done enough to earn that. But will the Bears be able to afford him, if they want to re-sign him?
“That’s not my decision,” Clinton-Dix said after Sunday’s win over the Vikings. “I don’t know. Right now I just really want to enjoy this win. I’ll worry about the future later. My thing was to play a full 16 games and be committed to those 16 games and let everything else take care of itself. I think that happened.”
There’s one factor that would appeal to Clinton-Dix remaining in Chicago: Eddie Jackson, his former Alabama teammate and partner-in-crime this season.
“I would love to play with this guy for the rest of my career,” Clinton-Dix said. “If he’s not here, I’ll go wherever he goes. But this is a crazy business. You never know what’s gonna happen.”
Clinton-Dix finished the season with 78 tackles, two interceptions, five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
General manager Ryan Pace has a lot of important decisions to make this offseason, including in the secondary. Clinton-Dix has at least earned another one-year prove-it deal. That is, if that’s where Pace desires to go.
