The Chicago Bears will begin free agency with a glaring need at starting safety opposite Eddie Jackson. There's a chance Ha Ha Clinton-Dix returns, but all signs indicate he'll test the open market. And once that happens, the odds of him returning drop significantly.

The Bears aren't going to get into a bidding war for Clinton-Dix, or any safety for that matter. They can't. GM Ryan Pace is fresh off of a historic contract extension for Jackson, one that will pay him $58.4 million over the next four seasons. As a result, the Bears can't invest top dollar into his counterpart and have such a big percentage of the salary cap tied up on third-level defenders.

There may be a viable solution to this problem, however: Vonn Bell.

Bell, who according to Spotrac has an expected market value of $4.5 million per season, would give the Bears a quality young starter opposite Jackson who can be had on a relatively inexpensive multi-year contract. He's such a logical fit that The Athletic recently predicted he'd sign with Chicago.

Vonn Bell (S): Bears Chicago doesn’t have a lot of money to spend in free agency and is expected to bring in a veteran quarterback at some point. But in the meantime, Bell fills a hole on the Bears’ defense and will be a nice complement to Eddie Jackson.

Bell, who's more of a thumper in the run game (he scored an elite 89.5 grade against the run in 2019 per Pro Football Focus), would allow Jackson to roam free as the ball-hawking playmaker that made him a household name in 2018.

Pace has done a nice job identifying quality safeties since taking over as Bears GM in 2015. Adrian Amos, Jackson and Clinton-Dix are examples of his hit-rate. Whether it's Bell or another discount-rack safety in free agency, there are plenty of reasons to have confidence in Pace's ability to get it right.